


Basic Elements

by Ann84



Category: The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha!Len, Alpha/Omega, F/M, M/M, Omega!Barry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-08-06 03:25:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16380494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ann84/pseuds/Ann84
Summary: Wells,Thawne, whatever his name was, had done it. They’d only had seconds, not enough time to stop it, just enough time for Barry to get them to safety before the walls shook and crumbled around them.The world is different now. You’re either alpha, omega, or dead. A new government rose from the explosion and Barry will do whatever it takes to keep him and his friends safe.





	1. Chaper 1

**Author's Note:**

> Don't know where this came from. I have 2 other multi-chapter fics I'm working on but I just keep veering off as other idea's pop into my head. 
> 
> SOOO, I'm busy a lot of the time and my chances to sit down and write are pretty sporadic. I've already got a few chapters of this written but I'll be honest, I don't know how long it will be between updates. It really depends on what's going on and which story I've got the itch to work on. 
> 
>  
> 
> Just fair warning: All the characters are VERY OOC. Not a lot of plot to this one and fairly cliché but it was beating at my brain so we'll see where it goes!

Barry stumbled, his knee catching on the pavement, the already worn jeans ripping further. He was quick to pull himself up, wincing at the sharp sting of torn flesh. He turned to look back at his companions. The last year and a half of stretching their food, eating only enough to survive, had taken its toll on all of them. As he looked at them he tried to imagine them before, with bright eyes, big smiles, a healthy layer of fat, clean… happy. It was a stark contrast to what he looked at now. Both looked exhausted with bags heavy under their eyes. They looked weary, their once fleshy cheeks were sunken under a layer of dirt from spending the week in the city without the luxury of a shower. He knew if he were to look in a mirror he’d see the same. Their bodies were drained, the journey too much for their depleted energy to withstand, but they couldn’t stop. He’d had no idea. No idea of how difficult this would be. In a week they’d made it just halfway through the city. He never imagined that it would take this long, that it would be this challenging to maneuver through the city undetected. 

What little food they’d had left at the lab they’d packed into their backpacks before leaving but that only lasted the first three days. They assumed it would be enough to get them out. They’d been wrong but there was no going back now. They had to get out. They had to leave the city. Their best chance at survival was in the open hills and forests beyond it. Less people, less _alpha’s_. 

“Come on.” He reached out, tugging on the tattered jackets Caitlin and Cisco wore, pulling them forward and ahead of him. 

“Come on. We can’t stop.” He kept his voice low. It was bad enough that their scent could give them away, he didn’t want a curious alpha to hear him and come close enough to discover what they were. 

He kept his hold on his friends as they stumbled slightly ahead of him and turned to look behind him to make sure they hadn’t been seen. 

Barry shifted his eyes to the sky above him, and then back to the alley they had found themselves in. It was getting dark and it was too open. They needed to find someplace to bunk down for the night and even though they were in a less traveled area of the city it was still too risky to stay there. They needed cover. 

He pulled them to a stop at the edge of the building, motioning them to wait. In what they’d found to be omega nature, Cisco and Caitlin pressed themselves together, their instincts telling them to find comfort in each other, the illusion of safety. They decided early on while studying their behavior that omegas probably stuck together in a pack. Nature compelling them to seek each other out when danger was present, stay quiet and small as to not distract an alpha defending the pack. The last part was only guessed upon. They’d had no interactions with alphas since _it_ happened so they could only rely on what their bodies told them. 

Barry moved his head around the corner to check that the connecting alley was clear, his eyes skimming the growing shadows for movement. He looked back at his friends, motioning them forward and around the corner. 

They stayed close to the brick wall as they traveled through the empty backstreet. Barry took in the building to their right. It looked abandoned. No lights were on and most of the windows were broken out. If it was uninhabited it might make a good shelter for the night. He moved further along the wall, turning back once to check that the other omegas were still close. As they came up to a dumpster he spied an old rusted door with a sign plastered to it with _CONDEMNED_ written in bold lettering. 

A flare of hope blossomed. He turned to Caitlin and Cisco, who had also seen the possibility presented to them and gave him small, weak smiles. 

“Wait here. I’m going to see if it’s clear.”

They nodded. Cisco gave him a weary look and whispered, “Be careful.”

He returned the nod and turned to jog over to the door, leaving his friends to hunker down by the dumpster. 

He should have known it was too good to be true. He should have known their luck would eventually run out. Just as his fingers touched the rusted handle there was a shift in the air, he _felt_ the danger before he smelled it, and a sharp musty scent that assaulted his nose had him freezing. He turned, intending to tell the others to run, get out of there, just as a large figure turned the corner. He’d gotten whiffs of other alphas within the last week and had learned that each had a different scent, some more potent than others and each scent different to different omegas. This one was putrid. Yes, there was the compelling scent that all alphas had to keep omegas in line but this one reminded Barry of garbage and vomit. Under the smell of alpha he could make out stale beer and piss and judging from the bloodshot eyes looking back at him the man probably spent most of this time rotting away in a bar somewhere. 

Everything seemed to stop for a fraction of a second before the alpha’s lips turned up into a leering grin. 

“Well hello there pretty omega.” The alpha’s voice rasped with a gruffness that you heard in heavy smokers. 

He looked to Caitlin and Cisco from the corner of his eyes, telling them to stay put, stay hidden, with a discreet hand signal, every inch of his instincts telling him to get the alpha away from the others, to lead the danger away. 

The alpha took a step toward him and Barry scanned the area around the other figure, waiting for the right moment.

“You look like you been out here a while. Why don’t you come with ol’Johnny and let me make everything all better?” He took another step forward, keeping his pace slow as if Barry were a skittish animal. 

Barry fought off the snarl in his throat but inwardly sneered. From what they had learned in the beginning, before the Lab had lost its signal, that’s exactly what omegas were treated like. Animals, chattel to be owned. Omegas had no rights and an unclaimed omega was fair game to any unbonded alpha they ran across. Though, even the bonded alphas were a danger. They might not want to claim you but they could make a small fortune by selling you off to the Omega Camps where you’d then be auctioned off to the highest bidding alpha. Barry shuddered. 

The alpha took another step and held his hand out. “Come on now sweet thing. Come on over here.” 

Barry saw his opening. He may not have had his powers anymore but he was still quick, still swift on his feet. He jumped into action, skirting around the man and turning the corner. He heard the alpha give a sharp growl as he swiped out, his fingers barely brushing the corner of Barry’s jacket. Barry took off, sprinting down another alley. He heard the alpha give chase behind him and drew up every bit of his reserves to push forward faster, to lose the man that he knew to be just on his heels.

He rounded building after building, skidding across busy streets, dodging cars, and back between the structures into the alleyways. The man drew closer behind him and he felt desperation rise. His head began to swim with the effort he exerted, his weakened body telling him there was nothing left. He tripped just as he turned around another corner and felt a heavy hand grab the collar of his jacket behind him. His body was suddenly hauled up and slammed against the side of a building, his head connecting sharply with the wall. He felt something warm trickle down over his ear as he was turned and shoved into the building again, this time the back of his head cracking against it. In that instant something primal roared in him and with a high pitched screech he began kicking and hitting, his fists and feet crashing into the alpha, turning very much into the animal they all thought omegas were. The man gave a grunt when Barry’s foot connected with his knee and they tumbled to the ground. Barry found himself trapped between the hard concrete and the equally hard body of the alpha. He reached up, his fingers clawing at the man’s face before his wrists were caught in a crushing grip. The body above him shifted to sit on his legs. He bucked up, trying in vain to free himself. 

“You rotten bitch!” He had only a second to register that the man’s breath was just as putrid as the rest of him before his arm swung up to backhand him, his fist connecting with a crack against his cheek. 

There were sparks and his vision swam. His body went limp and he was only vaguely aware that the weight above him lifted. Moments later, firm hands were pulling him up to his feet to lean against the wall. He whimpered as the dizziness made him tilt. A hand was placed at his chest steading him and a new scent filled his senses. Like the others it had an underlying trace of beer and cigarettes but it wasn’t as assaulting on the nose. This one was cool and crisp. Like the first winters snowfall and ice. It was safe. Barry felt every muscle in his body relax because this alpha felt like shelter, like a warm blanket surrounding him. In the back of his mind he knew it was a trick, it was the alpha pheromone projecting out to calm a panicked omega but the scent was so strong he couldn’t fight it. The omega in him whispered that he would be fine, relax and don’t fight it and he found himself listening and letting it guide him.

His eyes began to clear and the world rightened itself once more, though his brain continued to pound against his skull. A wave of nausea washed over him and he whimpered again. The scent grew stronger forcing his body to relax further, with his head hanging limp, tilted toward his feet. He blinked his eyes as his vision focused, staring down at a large hand with calloused fingers that pressed against his chest. The nails were clean and trimmed neatly and he could feel the warmth of it melting into his flesh. He lifted his eyes, trailing up the arm attached to the hand and, though it was covered by a leather jacket, he knew the arm would be thick and corded with muscle. The shoulders were broad and tapered up to a strong neck and….

Barry froze, the dizziness making a quick, alarming comeback as he stared up into a face he had never expected to see again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is pretty dry.  
> I've spent most of my time trying to find a way around it but couldn't.  
> It'll pick back up in the next chapter, I promise!
> 
>  
> 
> Un-beta'd.

Wells, _Thawne_ whatever his name was, had done it. They had watched in horror as the man disappeared through the portal, grinning, as the clock ticked down. They’d only had seconds, not enough time to stop it, just enough time for Barry to get them to safety, to the bunker under the labs, hoping it would keep them safe. The walls had shook around them, dust falling onto their ducked heads before a wave, a force of green energy, raced through the walls, through _them_. 

None of them were prepared for the pain that followed nor could they withstand it. Phantom hands had reached inside of him, twisted and yanked at his organs, splintered and snapped bones, tearing through his flesh with blunt fingers. The agony only lasted, thankfully, a short while before they all blissfully passed out. 

When he came to he knew something was wrong. He didn’t feel right. His whole body ached with the haunting feeling of being tortured but there was something else. Something was missing, like a void had filled him. He looked to Caitlin and Cisco who were sitting against the far wall, their legs drawn up, leaning on each other. They’d looked sad, dejected, their pitying eyes focused on him and it took Barry a moment to understand why as eyes fell on the still, lifeless bodies of Joe, Wally… Iris. He had crawled over, his heart broken, crying out in denial. He still had no idea how long he’s sat there with their heads in his lap, begging them to wake up, come back. Their vacant eyes stared back at him, unseeing. 

Caitlin had been the one to pull him away. 

“Come on Barry. They-They’re gone.” She had said. “We have to go. We need to figure this out.”

He didn’t have the strength to resist her pull. He’d been forced away from his family and out of the bunker, haphazardly moving through the debris and making their way to a higher floor.

It’d taken them hours to find a way up only to find half the Labs were in shambles, destroyed during the explosion. The other half had initiated a lock down. All exits were sealed, and the defensive protocols were in place. They’d finally found a floor that was less damaged and Cisco had walked to a computer that had somehow been spared and began running diagnostics. They found that the Lab was only barely functional. Less than that actually. The basics were all that was left. Just enough to operate until the building and systems were restored. Unfortunately half the essentials to restore the system were in the part of the Labs that had been destroyed along with most of their tech. 

It took very little time to realize what the void he’d felt was. The speedforce had left him. The discovery was like a punch in the gut and the mourning he felt was almost equal to the way he mourned his family. It felt debilitating, like a necessary part of him that made him function had gone. He’d never felt more helpless in his life. It had taken ages for him to accustom himself to the slow pace he was once again forced to live with. Frustration became an everyday feeling as he did mundane tasks that took longer than he was used to, that had once taken seconds.

Something had stopped him from letting Cisco lift the emergency seals right away. Even the desperation of his friends to find their family and loved ones couldn’t sway him. Something new in his mind whispered to wait. Something told him it wasn’t safe to leave the building yet and instead they discovered the new way of life through the news which was mostly random broadcasts that had no pattern, from people that had been able to hack the satellite signal. People that were in hiding like them, other’s that had ventured out to make the discoveries only to come back with the desolation that they’d found, scientists that snuck on to ensure people that they were looking for answers, to trust that someone would come help all those in hiding eventually. In the first few weeks there had been panic and confusion outside. After the explosion millions of people had just dropped dead, the ones that were left began turning on one another. Random acts of aggression that in a lot of cases led to murder. Others were assaulting people without remorse spouting things out about belonging to them, claiming them. They spoke of physical changes as well, some people got bigger, more aggressive while others seemed to shrink, new organs growing in some men that shouldn’t be there. They’d learned after a while that new pheromones had been developed and the brains thought pattern had shifted. A month after the explosion they’d found that you were either alpha, omega, or dead. No one knew exactly why some died. Maybe their bodies couldn’t withstand the change? Maybe they didn’t have the genetic makeup required to change? It was never discovered and they listened to comments about people trying to access the labs, the center of the explosion, looking for answers, only to find it inaccessible. They were unable to gain access and had even ignorantly tried standard explosives only to find the seals where impenetrable, only able to open from the inside. 

Through all this they realized lifting the emergency seals would be a mistake. It wasn’t safe for _them_. It wasn’t hard to figure out that the three of them were omegas, their own instincts supplied that for them. Alpha’s claimed the planet and omega’s became their entitlement. Omegas all over the world were being rounded up and forced into Nazi-like camps, held against their will until someone decided what to do with them. The decision at first was to let alphas come in and take whoever they’d like, just take them home and claim them whether the omega wanted it or not, with a bite that changed their scent and protected them from other alphas. That is, until someone realized that a profit could be made. Men and women began bidding on desirable omegas, and the ones that were less desirable were sold to whore houses. 

Those under 17 seemed to be protected, their scent off-putting to alphas. It was determined that it was nature’s way of protecting them until maturity, until their pack alpha or sire could find a suitable alpha to give them to. 

Of course, there were the lucky ones too. The ones that were already in a relationship with a newly created alpha, or knew of one that was willing to claim them before going to the Camps. They had it relatively easy. They’d been able to stay in their homes, safe and protected from the misery that was just outside their doors.

The government fell early on. All over the world alphas, the more potent, aggressive, and strongest, were developing territories, claiming area’s for their own. They ruled over their territory like kings and the brutality they showed those that challenged them was whispered from ear to ear creating a fear and pushing the weaker to conform and fall in line. The ones with the largest territories, the most “subjects” developed a counsel of sorts and a new government rose. Fifty alphas became the leaders of the world, passing laws and dispatching others under them to keep the peace and the world turned back into an image of what it was before. Businesses opened back up, people returned to work and life moved on. The only difference was _who_ ran those businesses, _who_ returned to work. Alphas dominated society and claimed omegas became 50’s style stay at home “wives.” They cooked, cleaned, carried and raised children and that was the extent of their lives. The world began to even itself, level the turmoil, and went back to a more oppressed, twisted sense of what life used to be like. 

Six months in to their self-imposed confinement the signal had been lost. The power to the labs had been cut off and the self-powering reserves had kicked in, but limiting what they could run. Only areas essential to survival ran. The refrigeration rooms, lights in a few rooms, the air and water filtration systems were all that worked.

After that they threw themselves into determining what had happened with the few resources they had left, trying to forget that outside the walls of the lab they were at the bottom of the totem pole. Armed with nothing more than flashlights and face masks to protect them from the dark and the shifting dust from the debris, they began exploring what was left of the labs, looking for clues and turning up with very few.

Wells had destroyed everything. Their lives, their world, it was all gone. The explosion had been much like the explosion from the particle accelerator but in reverse and the affects were felt worldwide, not just limited to Central City. People lost their powers and evolution moved backwards… and in some strange way, _forward_ , as their bodies evolved to continue life through ways that were unheard of before, creating the alpha/omega dynamic that was now the standard. Portals were locked and they were cut off from all other dimensions. They were on their own. 

Early on they’d taken inventory of their supplies. Thankfully the filtration system assured them fresh water whenever they’d wanted but food was another story. There had been just enough to keep a fully operational lab fed for a few months. They’d rationed it out to last the three of them a little over a year. None of them commenting on what would be done after that time was up or the fact that they spent most of their time still hungry. They’d pulled cots from uninhabitable areas and placed them together in the larger room they spent most of their time in, finding comfort in the closeness of each other. Nights spent bundled together had been awkward at first despite the security it made them feel but that quickly disappeared as their instincts forced them closer, no longer quelling the urge to comfort and soothe each other. Instead they found themselves touching more, sitting closer together, and huddling together in tight balls as they slept. During all this they studied their behavior through the eyes of scientists but allowed their pack to form. 

Around a year and a half they found what few clothes they had were in tatters from the repetitive hand washing and their food supply had dwindled. With only two weeks of it left they began discussing what would happen from there, what their choices were and what they would do. During their self-imposed seclusion Barry had found himself a makeshift leader in their small pack, the other two following his lead in most things so when he suggested leaving there were no arguments. Caitlin began putting together their meager supplies and gathering what they might need for the trip and Cisco began calculating where their best chances of survival would be. They’d been cut off from the world for well over a year but knew that it was still a dangerous move, they knew what would happen if they were caught. They’d just had no idea how difficult it would be to move through the city unseen. They never realized how long it would take and they all wished they’d had more foresight, that they’d left earlier. Their food was gone within the first three days and on the fourth day they’d resorted to scavenging dumpsters, their bodies unable to withstand the lack of food after skimping for so long. They’d huddled together for warmth and comfort at night wherever they could find safe shelter which was harder that it sounded. Abandoned buildings sometimes housed homeless or nomad alphas also looking for shelter. They’d been lucky most of the time, finding the building empty or able to leave quickly before an alpha caught their scent. They’d moved forward even though their will began to fade with their strength. They moved almost on auto pilot, knowing that they had to even though their bodies told them to stop. Their trek halfway through the city had shown them luck. 

Until it didn’t.


	3. Chapter 3

A low whine bubbled up in his throat, the day, the week, the _months_ spent in confinement, catching up to him. This was too much. The tension churned inside him and he couldn’t get a grip on the panic spreading over him, threatening to spill over. 

Snart’s head tilted just a fraction. His eyes skimmed over Barry, assessing, pausing for just a moment near his ear where Barry could feel wetness trailing down under the throbbing area where his head impacted the wall the first time. Snart’s eyes met his again and Barry’s breath began to falter, coming out in ragged gasps, his hands curled against the rough wall behind him, nails catching and tearing. 

“Easy Scarlet.” The words were low, soothing with an easy command behind them that was more warm than it was demanding and he felt that warm blanket settle over him again making him shudder. 

Just as he settled into the comfort of Snarts scent the quiet was broken like glass shattering. 

“Hey man! Back off! I saw him first.”

Barry’s head snapped around to find the other alpha picking himself up off the ground where he’d been apparently thrown to. Barry found his vision swimming again as the man’s angry aroma met his nose, too far to be debilitating but enough for Barry to feel it. The man kept his distance, wariness mixing with his anger. Barry could tell why. Snarts scent was intense and the omega inside him whispered that this was a strong alpha, much stronger than the other, stay still and quiet and he’d be safe.

With his back still to the other alpha and his eyes still locked on Barry he replied. “Is that so?”

The man growled. “Yes! By law I have first rights to him.”

Barry tore his eyes away from the alpha and looked back up to Snart. The larger man raised his brows at Barry and he felt fear envelope him. He couldn’t just hand him over! Not after everything he’d gone through, how far they’d made it. He couldn’t let the other alpha take him. Barry wasn’t stupid. He knew what would happen to him. He would be raped. Repeatedly. And if the alpha tired of him he’d be sold off to the Camps just to become someone else’s property. 

Barry swallowed. “Please…” He was too afraid to be ashamed of the way his voice shook, the pleading that rang in the word. “Please, no.” His hand came up, his intention to pull at the hand keeping him pushed against the wall, but as his fingers brushed against the skin on the thick wrist (thicker than Barry last remembered it being, his mind supplied somewhere in the haze of the panic surrounding him) a jolt, like static traveled over his fingers and up his arm causing his mouth to part in a gasp, his omega strangely quiet for once. 

He licked his lips nervously. “Just let me go please.” 

The whispered request sounded unsure and confused even to his ears and Snart’s lips tilted up into a smirk, suddenly making Barry feel like a mouse caught by a cat. “He’s right, Barry. It’s the _law_.”

Barry’s lips parted prepared to beg the man, offer whatever he could, _do_ whatever he wanted, when movement from the corner of his eye drew his attention toward the alleyway. 

Cisco and Caitlin skidded to a halt at the scene before them and Barry’s terror spiked. Time froze as the omegas wide eyes zeroed in on him before snapping to Snart and the other alpha, then coming back to him. He could see the hesitation in their eyes, they knew what they had to do but were waiting for Barry to say it, as if they couldn’t move unless he told them to.

Barry’s frantic eyes met the other omegas and he yelled out, “Go! Run!” 

They didn’t move, instead they stared at him, the dilemma clear in their expressions. He couldn’t hear her but saw Caitlin mouth his name and he shook his head, his voice snapping and desperate. “Now!”

Cisco was the first to move. He grabbed the female omegas arm and shoved her back into the alley, telling her to run, his eyes locking with Barry’s before they disappeared around the corner as he followed. 

Snart hummed from above him and Barry turned back in time to see him nod his head in their direction.

“Mick.”

He hadn’t even noticed the other alpha so focused on the two in front of him but Heatwave stepped forward as if he were melting out of the bricks in his peripheral vision, moving around to the alley as he made to follow.

“No!” His voice was shrill as he watched the alpha turn the corner, disappearing to search for the other two that Barry knew wouldn’t stand a chance. Barry’s omega roared inside him, a new desperation filling him, not for himself but for his omegas. He growled low in his throat as his body began to thrash, trying to dislodge Snart’s hand, the need to protect his omegas his only thought. His hands came up to push at Snart’s chest, nails digging into the hard muscle beneath the shirt. His body flailing, feet kicking out, trying to escape the alphas hold while he shoved at the unmovable body. His foot came up, connecting with Snart’s thigh just as his fist went flying out only to be caught with quick reflexes and just like that it all came to a stop.

“Enough!” Snart barked out the order. Without warning a wave of _something_ hit him like a brick wall, fear filling his senses. It was like the other alpha’s projected anger from earlier but this one was stronger, punishing. The hand moved from his chest to grasp his throat, pushing him back firmly though not constricting his airway. This new scent pouring off Snart had Barry frozen, unable to move even if he wanted to. Distress, alarm, fright, it assaulted him in waves keeping him immobile and fixed to the spot. Each wave was worse than the next and it felt like stones pelting off him. 

His eyes squeezed shut and he let out a choked whimper at the painful sensation. It increased and his knees wobbled, the weight of the feeling added with his own making it hard to stay upright. His head dropped forward as his hands blindly reached out for support, fisting in the alphas shirt.

And then it was gone, disappearing in the air as if it was never there and Barry could once again feel the chill of the evening and the hard wall behind him. 

He sagged in Snart’s grasp, taking gasping breaths that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He sluggishly moved his gaze up to Snarts. The eyes that stared back at him could have been made of steel. They bore into him, cold, hard, and unyielding and Barry felt something snap inside him. After everything they’d been through he couldn’t keep the precariously stacked weight on his shoulders steady anymore. Everything was collapsing around him. He was hungry, tired, filthy, cold, and his very _bones_ ached. He swallowed against the painful lump that formed in his throat and his vision blurred as his eyes filled with tears. He just couldn’t do it anymore. 

He let his body go limp, the action surprising Snart, pulling his neck from his grasp as he fell to his knees, hands still clenched in his shirt because he couldn’t seem to pull them away and he had no idea why. His muscles were heavy in his frame and his shoulders hunched. He let his head fall back limply and looked up at Snart through hazy pools, the omega in him telling him that this was all that was left and urging him to just give in, just do it and everything would be alright. 

And he listened to it. There was no pride left. No fight as he opened his mouth. “Alpha,” His voice croaked, hitching and wavering around his tight throat, “please take my friends and I under your protection.”

He didn’t know if it would work, didn’t even know if that kind of request was an actual _thing_ but he had to try. The only hint that it would work came from the animalistic side of him that told him this was what he needed to do and right now it seem that it was the only card he had. It was the only option left to him. He couldn’t run anymore, he couldn’t go back to the Labs, couldn’t let himself be handed over to the disgusting alpha still hovering nearby. There was nothing left to do. 

“Too late for all that now. He’s mine and you can’t claim him.”

Barry couldn’t even bring himself to cringe as the other alphas voice rose behind Snart. He just stared up at Snart with tired eyes. 

Snart stared back, his expression once again thoughtful. Barry could only imagine what the other man was thinking. It seemed like an eternity, the silence stretching on as Snart regarded the kneeling omega and Barry tried to picture what he saw. Too skinny, dirty, desperate. None of those things could be appealing to an alpha. He wasn’t all that tempting to begin with but now, after a year and a half of skimping on meals and a week on the streets he knew the only thing in his favor was his omega scent, hopefully not too tainted by days of not washing. 

The man behind Snart huffed with impatience, his confidence growing despite the wariness still hovering in undertones. “That’s it. We’re done here.” 

Footsteps came closer and just as Barry was about to lean down and rest his head against Snarts boots, because he wasn’t above groveling at this point and that insistent part of him told him that it’s what he should be doing, Snarts cool voice reached his ears. 

“How much?”

Barry looked back at him in confusion before he realized he’d been speaking to the other alpha. Understanding raced through him and he sagged. 

The man paused in his approach. “What?”

Snart reached out, cupping his thin cheek. His thumb brushed a tear that had escaped unnoticed before he turned to face the other alpha. “How much do you want for him? The other two as well.”

The alphas face paled as Snart turned to him. His mouth opening and closing for a moment before he was able to get the words out. He took a faltering step back. 

“A-Alpha Snart. I didn’t realize. Sir—“

“How. Much.” The words were edged with irritation and when the man stood there, words failing and his head shaking, Snart spoke again with a sigh. “Five hundred a piece is more than generous, wouldn’t you say?”

“I-I—Yes, Sir, yes. Very generous.” 

Snart moved his hand from Barry’s cheek and gave him a pointed look. “Don’t move.”

He turned to the alpha and pulled his wallet from inside his jacket. Barry didn’t think there had been anything left in him to break but as he watched Snart begin to count the bills he could practically hear what was left of his dignity shatter. He fell back and drew his knees up to his chest, hugging them to his body as he dropped his head into them. The dam split and Barry let out a low sob. It was just too much. All of it was too much. He let the tears flow freely to soak into his jeans as he cried quietly into his knees. He could hear the men above him speaking to each other but tuned out the words. He didn’t want to hear how they spoke of him, like property to be bought and sold.

Arms wrapped around him and he almost flinched until he caught the scent of omega. Caitlin and Cisco were suddenly there and he realized with horror what he had just done. He’d forgotten what it would mean for them. He’d just condemned them to a life of slavery, nothing more than possessions. He shifted his arms around them and looked into their drawn faces before bringing their heads together, resting on their foreheads. 

“I’m sorry.” He whispered feeling Snart’s gaze burn into him. “I’m so sorry.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not having an easy time of writing lately. I keep going back and erasing what I've already got typed up and changing everything. This chapter was supposed to go completely different and I trashed it along with a few future chapters and rewrote it all. 
> 
> At least this one (and probably the next) is super long!

Barry leaned against the shower wall with his hands braced in front of him. He watched as rivers of grime trailed down his legs to puddle at his feet and disappear down the drain. The water pouring over him was a pleasure he’d taken for granted all his life, hot water always at his disposal, always just a twist of a knob. He’d learned to simply be grateful for the lukewarm showers the Lab had provided them, always a tepid temperature, the power source’s default backup at conserving energy. But now, instead of soaking in the nearly divine feel of the hot water gliding over his skin of it all he could feel was failure weighing him down as he thought about the day.

*

Looking back he should have _known_ but in his defense the panic that still clung to him had been a distraction, to absorbed in the whirlwind that had swept them up to notice the obvious flags. 

They’d been ushered into a _limo_ of all things, pulling up in front of the seedy bar Barry had recognized as the bar Snart used to frequent before all this. It was a downright absurd sight and he would have laughed at the ridiculous picture it made had the situation not been so dismal, had his brain been able to connect even a miniscule thread of humor to the situation. The vehicle should have been his second clue, the first being the reaction of the alpha Snart had paid off. But he didn’t understand, even as they were packed into the back of the vehicle. 

They hadn’t bothered with the seats, not since it meant someone had to be on the opposite side of another. He could feel the anxiety they were all feeling and knew they needed close physical contact with each other, something the seats wouldn’t have allowed for. So they sat close together on the floor, furthest away from Snart and Rory, just below the window that separated the driver from them. Barry faced the alphas, his eyes locked onto Snarts from over the other omegas heads, his body tense and his eyes wary and heavy on the alphas that were entirely too close to him and his omegas, because his own omega told him that even though the filthy alpha was gone _because_ of this alpha, he was still a threat. _They_ were still threatened, even though they knew these men from their previous lives, his omega didn’t know the two alphas and it wasn’t taking any risks. 

The other man kept his own gaze fixed on Barry, his expression blank. The heady weight of his eyes still present since the last time they’d seen each other, still keen and precise at reading others at an annoyingly accurate level. 

Mick was content to stare out the window but Barry could feel his pheromones mixing with Snarts, in the close confines of the limo no doubt the scent of distressed omega was overpowering. It was hard to imagine the hardened criminals projecting calm to relieve three people they never cared for before the turn but it was there and seemed to be working on Barry’s omega pack. 

He felt it too but for some reason, one that he’d been in no mood to speculate on, it didn’t affect Barry the same way as the others, as if it wasn’t enough for him and the caution was still there, still reminding him to stay alert. 

So he stared back at Snart with a guarded air. His nose itched uncomfortably with the scent of the two alphas so close to him, their aromas intense and almost unbearable with no air flow to dilute them. So unused to the scent of alpha and definitely unaccustomed to being surrounded by those scents, it had his eyes watering but even through watery eyes he kept his sight locked on the alpha. He didn’t care what the other man saw, what he thought, as long as he didn’t _move_. 

Eventually Snart grown bored with watching Barry and turned his head to look out the window, his hand resting under his chin, his face lost in thought. Barry had brought his hands up to scratch his nails lightly on the scalps of his omegas, giving them what comfort he could and he knew that Snart’s attention was back on him even though his eyes never left the passing scenery. His only words the entire ride had been to Mick who he told to call and have the main house cleared out, all alphas were to stay out until he said otherwise. Other than that it was silent, his omegas rested heavily on him, breathing with a languid ease, the lull of the two alphas keeping them in a sense of security. 

He _finally_ figured it out when the limo stopped and they were coaxed out from the vehicle. Cisco had given a sharp gasp and stilled. The fear that he let off had both alphas turning to see what the cause was and Barry looked around as well, searching for the danger only to find that Cisco stared at the house they’d pulled up to. 

It was the Santini mansion. The place Snart and Rory had kept Cisco and his brother. Barry had let the tension in his shoulders loosen, realizing that it was nothing more than painful memories.

And that’s when it hit him, like clouds had parted to reveal the sun. 

This was the largest home in Central City. The place was practically a compound with acers and acers of lawn and timber, a large brick wall extending the entire area of the property provided security and multiple guest houses scattered along the borders afforded housing for a large pack. It was suddenly so blatantly obvious. Only the alpha that presided over this territory would live here and he should have known the moment he saw Snart, recognized him as an alpha, that he would never have let someone else take over _his_ city. His stomach dropped for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last hour, his body stiffened and he froze. 

Snart must have sensed the change, sniffing out whatever feeling Barry was releasing. He turned as if it were slow motion and Barry watched as his eyes lit with amusement. He knew that Barry had just connected the dots and stark humor at Barry’s expense was clear. His grin was cheeky, cool, and behind the amusement Barry could see the warning, the dark edges of his eyes were sharp, his smile shadowed with danger. 

This man wasn’t like the man he knew before. This man was different. There would be no truces, no deals. He was on top now and Barry understood what that meant. The man had to be brutal to reach this height. He had to be, because diplomacy had only come later, after territories were settled. The things he must have done to get here had Barry shuddering. 

Snart gave him a knowing wink and turned to walk up the steps to the mansion and for the first time in a very long time his omegas had to push _him_ along, his steps slow and faltered as he took in the new revelation. 

They were led to a smaller sitting room with leather couches and walls lined with books. There was a large fireplace to one side that burned merrily giving the room an inviting feel, the opposite of what Barry was currently feeling. Lingering traces of alpha and cigarettes had Barry guessing that this was a popular spot for Snart’s pack and the persistent scents of random alphas that hadn’t dissipated yet had his omega spinning. 

Snart disappeared leaving them with the silent Rory who, other than a quick glance at Caitlin that put Barry even further on edge, plopped himself in an armchair in front of the fire and proceeded to ignore them. 

The three of them stood just inside the room near the closed door, unsure and unwilling to draw much attention to themselves. They looked at each other silently, his omegas each giving him looks of assurance that they were ok. In the small space between their bodies where they huddled together Cisco drew his arm up to the side of Barry’s head slowly, dabbing at the quickly drying blood with the cuff of his sleeve. It was moments like these that they had a hard time differentiating between animal and friend. Either way, the comfort from the action eased the hared omega inside him, soothing his nerves momentarily with the comfort they gave to each other. 

He’d closed his eyes and leaned into the touch, conveying his gratitude as Caitlin trailed her fingers down his arm on the other side of him. 

The crisp scent of winter jolted him back to focus, his eyes snapping open just as the other omegas dropped their hands. 

Snart stood in the doorway, his face blank as he looked back at them, though Barry could see the assessment of them in his eyes as if what they’d been doing was abnormal and Barry felt the need to move his omegas behind him, out from under Snart’s microscope. He’d lightly circled his friend’s wrists, guiding them back, his own eyes never leaving Snart’s and at the movement the older man’s head tilted just a fraction.

Barry wasn’t sure if it was something in his expression or something in his scent but Snart’s low, soothing tone from earlier returned. 

“Don’t freak out on me again Scarlet. Everything is fine.”

A part of Barry raged, wanting to scream that he wasn’t a skittish horse but the other half of him shushed it, remaining alert and wary of the unknown alpha. 

Snart motioned toward a couch. “Sit down.”

None of them moved. His two omegas remained still, waiting for him to decide what to do, as usual. Barry’s vigilant eyes did his own quick assessment, taking in the bowl of water, washcloths, and what looked like antiseptic that Snart carried before looking back at the man evaluating his posture, trying to pinpoint any possible threats. From the corner of his eyes he could see Rory watching, taking the scene in. 

Slowly, Barry released Cisco and Caitlin, silently telling them everything was fine and once the three of them had cautiously seated themselves Snart moved forward and placed his items on the coffee table, equally as slow, giving Barry a clear view of his every move. 

Barry was tense as the alpha moved around the table, closer to them and eased himself down next to the items, in front of Barry. 

He watched with a sharp eye as Snart wet one of the clothes before turning to him making him flinch back as the large hand came toward his face. 

Snart paused and raised his brows. “Relax, kid. Just checking your injuries.” 

He slowly raised the cloth again and Barry stilled, tension coiled in his limbs, ready to leap up if needed. He brought his other hand up, once again giving Barry the impression that he did it for his benefit, to gently cup Barry’s chin, turning his head to the side. 

He was silent at first, dabbing over Barry’s ear and neck but when he did speak it was low, calm and neutral, still talking to them as if they were skittish animals. 

“Where have you three been?” 

Barry’s teeth clenched at the tone, and though his omega warned him again to shush, be cautious with his words, he snapped, “I’m not an animal. Stop speaking to me as if I were.” 

“Then stop _acting_ like one.” Snart retorted in a cool, challenging drawl that sent a rush of anger through him. Cisco tensed beside him.

“S.T.A.R. Labs.” The man blurted out before Barry could respond to the condescending tone. Barry glanced over at the male omega and frowned, causing Cisco to clear his throat and look away. His hand brushed against the side of Barry’s leg with silent apology. 

Snart’s eyes flicked between Cisco, Barry, and the hand movement. “And you’ve been there since this all began?”

“Obviously.” He snapped again. 

From behind the alpha, he heard Rory snort and Snart’s lips turned up just a fraction. Next to him Cisco and Caitlin’s scent rippled with nervousness causing Barry to close his eyes and take a deep breath. He moved his hands to rest easily on their knees, his focus shifting, calming himself to ease and reassure them. 

Snart watched the interaction but didn’t comment on it, instead he began pressing along the side of Barry’s head. A flash of pain had him hissing and flinching back and Snart nodded to himself before moving on to the swollen cheek. 

“This connection you three have is almost feral. Like you were plucked from the wild. Whatever your little group is, it’s interesting.” 

He dropped his hand and looked at Barry with expectancy. Barry only stared back. He mulled over Snarts words and felt another trickle of the defiance he’d been trying to dampen for the sake of the other two omegas spike. Even his omega hissed within him, forgoing the need of preservation in the wake of not being recognized for what they were, as if it had been insulted by the alphas ignorance and the need to correct the man about what they were became too strong to ignore.

“We’re a pack, that’s what our connection is.”

Heatwave gave a loud, gruff bark of laughter and Snart smirked before giving him a placating look. 

“Oh? And who’s the alpha in this pack?”

Barry swallowed but his chin raised. “There is no alpha.” He locked eyes with Snart. “We don’t _need_ an alpha.”

Snart smiled softly. “Cute, but no.” He turned and poured the antiseptic on a clean cloth and continued speaking. “There can’t be a pack without an alpha.” 

He reached up and dabbed the cut on Barry’s cheek causing the younger man to pull back at the sting. He cupped Barry’s chin like before, this time a little firmer and when Barry made to shift away the second time the cloth was dabbed on his cheek, the fingers tightened in warning, a spike of ache beneath the digits causing the omega in him to sit up, its attention suddenly fixed on something Barry couldn’t identify, the same way it had at the jolt he’d felt outside the bar when he’d touched Snart. 

“You three are unclaimed omegas that have grouped together for survival.” After quickly cleaning the cut on the side of Barry’s head, he pulled back and dropped the cloth onto the table. “That’s it. No pack. There’s no such thing as an all omegan pack.”

Barry’s eyes narrowed and his lips parted to tell Snart there was at least _one_ and he was looking at it, when he felt Caitlin’s small hand grasp his arm, silently asking him to let it go. 

Snarts all-seeing eyes sparkled with enjoyment but his words held a hard warning that Barry didn’t have to guess at. 

He nodded to her hand. “She’s a smart girl. You should take that hint. I’m patient but as you three saw fit to ruin the one day I get to play plebian, I’m not inclined to deal with much more attitude.”

Barry’s shoulders bunched at the implied threat, the demand, the _warning_ that his omega was too thinned to tolerate, now mentally crouched inside him, hissing. 

A return warning pushed its way from his throat in the form of a snarl, low and crude, through curled lips and as it rolled from within him, his eyes focused on Snart with a glint that had both alphas in the room stilling as if they’d never seen anything like it before. 

Snart’s eyes narrowed and his head cocked, not in a way that told Barry he was angry, instead his eyes filled with intrigue. 

Mick’s gruff voice had his head snapping to the other alpha, nostrils flaring. “Well, that’s different.”

“Yeah,” Snart said, not moving his gaze from Barry. “It is.”

Just as another growl slipped out at the scrutiny, Barry felt Snart push that blanket of comfort over him, forcing his body to back down, lulling his mind into a feeling of safety, heavier than it had been in the limo and though he hadn’t realized it at the time, only for him. The other two omegas sat huddled next to him not the slightest bit affected. He shuddered at the contradicting warmth the wintery scent surrounded him with.

He felt Caitlin and Cisco’s hands on him as the feeling receded and his mind refocused but before he could say anything Snart stood. 

As if nothing had happened he jerked his head towards the door. “Come on. I’ll show you to your rooms and…” 

His voice trailed off at Barry’s quick movement at the mention of having separate rooms. He took in the way he’d grasped their hands, all three of their digits white with the strength of their grips. His head dipped in thought before he surprised Barry with an easy smile.

“Ok,” he nodded, “I’ll show you to your _room_ ,” he paused pointedly at the word and continued, “Take a shower. I’ll find you guys some clothes and then we’ll get some food in you. We can talk more then.”

*

Barry sighed, coming back to the present at a knock on the door.

“Barry?” Caitlin’s soft voice was only barely heard over the running shower. “Are you ok? You’ve been in here a while.”

He closed his eyes briefly and sighed. “Yeah. I’m just about done. I’ll be out in a minute.” 

He heard the door click shut and he quickly finished washing and turned off the water, stepping out to wrap the large, fluffy towel he’d found around his waist before walking through the door that opened to the bedroom Snart had given them. 

Caitlin and Cisco were lounging on the oversized bed, having showered before him. They both gave him soft smiles and Cisco nodded to a pile of clothes on the chair that hadn’t been there before he went into the bathroom. 

“Mick brought some clothes. Not the best fit but they’re clean.” Barry noticed that the other omegas were already dressed, the clothes hanging off them like Cisco had said. “He took our old stuff. Pretty sure he mumbled something about a fire.”

Barry scoffed. “As much as I don’t want to agree with him, that’s probably where they belong.”

He walked over to the clothes left for him and began slipping them on, not at all ashamed of being naked in front of the other omegas. They’d long since become used to each other’s bodies and had no qualms with nudity between the three of them. 

“Do you think he’s right?” Caitlin’s still quiet voice reached him and he looked back at her where she lay on her stomach watching him with her chin resting on folded arms.

“About what?”

She half shrugged. “We never adapted to society as it is now. We just knew each other and maybe we reverted in some ways to what we would have been like in the wild had, well, we ever existed before.”

Barry returned her shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe?”

Cisco flopped back against the pillows. “Well I don’t care what he says, we’re a pack no matter what.”

Caitlin looked back at him and gave him a bright smile. “Damn straight we are.”

Barry shook his head and slipped on the too-big shirt that smelled strongly of Snart and padded over to the others, climbing up and resting his head on Cisco’s crossed legs and folding his hands over his stomach. 

“Guys,” he started with a hesitant tone, “I really am sorry I got you into this.”

Caitlin shifted over so that she could lay her head on Barry’s stomach just below his folded hands and looked up at him seriously. 

“It wasn’t your fault. We couldn’t stay at the lab anymore. We had no choice but to leave.” He felt Cisco’s hand drop to run his fingers over his wet hair as Caitlin spoke. “And between Snart and the other guy… well… better the enemy you know.”

Barry shook his head. “I don’t think we know him anymore.”

He felt the slight shift of Cisco’s body as he nodded. “Yeah, he’s definitely got a different vibe and not just the alpha thing either. You don’t need powers to feel it.” He sighed. “But I didn’t get a horrible feeling about him, you know? So maybe it’ll be ok.”

Barry drew his bottom lip between his teeth, worrying the flesh, and wondered for what must have been the millionth time since this all started how Cisco could speak so easily about his former powers, let alone even say _vibe_. 

Barry still fought with the loss of his daily and the silliest associations brought the memories back sharply at times. He’d hoped that once he was out of the labs it would dampen but just yesterday morning he’d seen the most brilliant shade of red and just the color of it had his mind flashing back to his old suit making his stomach turn at the memory. 

He could only assume that Cisco could so casually bring the past up because he had just begun forming his powers, he hadn’t had long enough to grow attached yet.

The fingers in his hair brought him brought him back and he looked up at the other man to find him watching expectantly, as if waiting for Barry to confirm what he’d said, needing Barry to assure him that yes, everything _would_ be ok like Barry actually had the answers. Something that they both did entirely too often though Barry couldn’t understand why. They had to know that he couldn’t predict these things and yet they still looked to him for reassurance in situations that were impossible to see the outcome of. 

Barry gave a reluctant sigh. Cisco was right, his omega was cautious and guarded but hadn’t once alerted him that he had to get away, that there was immediate danger, so it might not be so bad. 

“Yeah, maybe,” he responded to the look.

For a moment the room went quiet and then Cisco gave a small wiggle in his legs, jostling his head gently. “Hey, Barry?”

He turned his head to look up at the other omega again.

“Do me a favor? Next time you feel like challenging or threatening Captain Cold or Heatwave or really _any_ alpha, give me a little warning first. Or better still, you know… don’t do it at all.”

He drew his brows together with a questioning look. 

“ _Dude_ , I about pissed down my leg.”

Barry shrugged. “I didn’t _threaten_ him really—“

“You _growled_ at him Barry!” he interrupted with an ‘ _are you insane_ ’ look. “I don’t know what you were thinking but my omega did _not_ like it. I could have gotten over you snapping at him but that growl did me in.”

Caitlin nodded, and he lifted his head to look down at her, her face scrunched, “He’s right. I kinda wanted to crawl under the couch.”

His head fell back with a sigh. They were right, he had no idea what that was. It had just bubbled out. In fact, he felt completely off with Snart and wasn’t sure why. 

“I don’t- I’m not really sure what that was.” He started. “I feel different, like since we left the lab and definitely around alphas and my omega is… lashing out. I can feel you guys and logically I know that I should be acting like your omegas but mine seems to have gotten some wires crossed. But it feels right for me. It doesn’t want to back down. It won’t let me. It’s weird.”

Caitlin raised up on her elbow to look down at him. “Well, we’ve always known that you were different from us but I get the feeling that you’re different out here too.” She shrugged. “Apparently we’re all different though if you take Snarts comment into account. Maybe your omega just needs time to settle.”

“Probably,” he edged, not entirely positive that was the case in this matter. 

As Caitlin settled back down on her arms Barry thought about the past week. Since leaving the Labs his omega had been very vocal, sometimes giving little tidbits of advice and other times forcing his body and mind to think and act like the complete opposite of himself. 

His nose scrunched. “Guys, I think my omega is a snob. A lot like a bratty kid actually. Bitchy?” He wasn’t exactly sure which term better suited his omega, so he shrugged. It actually _was_ a combination of the three.

Cisco snorted and looked down at him, a questioning grin stretching his lips. “Ok? Go on?”

He kept his eyes on the ceiling and chewed on his thumbnail as he spoke. “Well… I don’t know. All week it’s been whispering things more than it typically does. Not like the usual stuff either.” 

A year and a half ago if he’d told them something was whispering to him they’d have thrown him in a mental hospital. Now, all they did was nod their heads, understanding the feeling of having a new part of them, a twin to their past identities, like a second consciousness that told them how to function. 

“It _really_ doesn’t like alphas. Like it’s better than them and no one is good enough. Little comments just pop into my head, like… like downright _mean_ comments. Always insults. I swear it’s like it wants me to spit at them.”

Caitlin gave him a breathy laugh. “Yeah, let’s not spit at them, k?”

“Not exactly on my to-do list, Cait.” 

He sighed and bit his lip. “It hisses at Snart. No words. Just hisses.”

“Like a cat?” Cisco looked at him with raised brows, the humor building on his face. 

Barry couldn’t help a laugh of his own. “Actually exactly like a cat. But not any cat. I’m talking mean as hell alley cat that you have by the scruff of its neck while trying to avoid the claws that want to rip you to pieces kind of cat. It’s actually a little tiring, keeping up with the bitchy comments and mad alley cat hissing.”

His omegas burst out in laughter, the sound ringing in the room. His smile stretched, realizing that he hadn’t heard that sound in a very long time and had missed it more than he thought. 

“Only you would have the melodramatic omega, Barry.” Caitlin said as they calmed.

He snorted and they fell into an easy silence, content to just enjoy the moment for now. They were together, clean and warm and laying on a soft bed and there had been the promise of food later. Right at that moment everything was ok. His fingers moved to play with one of Caitlin’s long curls and he let his eyes drift shut, with the crackle of the fire and their easy breathing the only sounds in the room. The tension he’s been holding since he got there began to melt away and he let himself take in the little things. Snarts scent hung heavy in his nose telling him that the clothes were definitely his but when he focused enough he could smell an unknown alpha and omega on Caitlin and Cisco, the scent of them off-putting but not irritating or stinking like the other alphas Barry had gotten whiff of in the last week. Snarts scent, Barry reluctantly decided, was rather pleasant though it made no sense that the man would give him his clothes since they were even more ridiculously baggy on him than the other two and it would have been more rational to give him a smaller size, but he didn’t let himself dwell. It didn’t matter right now. The present was too good to ignore.

He wasn’t sure how long they’d been like that before a soft knock came from the door. It opened without warning, not giving them enough time to sit up before Snart walked in. He stopped just inside the threshold and ran his eyes over each of them, lingering just a moment more on Barry before speaking. 

“Well, at least you all smell better.” He nodded his head in the direction of the door. “Come on. Let’s work on fattening you up.”

As he moved from the bed, Cisco mumbled something about little old ladies and gingerbread houses that had been meant for Barry and Caitlin’s ears only and Barry rolled his eyes, not in the mood for lighthearted jokes while Snart was present. 

He made sure he was in front of them as he approached the alpha, who gave him a toothy grin, obviously having heard the comment. 

Barry narrowed his eyes at the man, his omega mentally crouching in defense, also not at all amused. Thin brows raised and waggled at his glare and Barry found himself wanting to hiss right along with his omega. Whatever he was letting off made the alpha’s grin widen, laughter clearly, _blatantly_ , etched on his face, like he was having fun and Barry’s reactions the height of entertainment. The notion that Snart wasn’t taking him seriously made the omega in him rage, stomping its foot like a three year old having a meltdown for not getting his way. 

Before Barry lost control of his actions again Snart turned and walked out of the room, leaving Barry to take a deep breath to settle his omega before following. 

He kept himself a few paces back, his omegas behind him, and his eyes scanning the surroundings, his nose seeking out and trying to identify the many foreign smells, searching for any hidden threats.

They followed him down through the dining room and into the kitchen where Barry was hit with yet another unfamiliar scent, strong enough that it had him tensing and driving to a stop, forcing the omegas behind him to pause. It was omega but a nervous tremor rippled through his muscles, his eyes scanning the room for the unknown person, and when it came up short, warning shot through his suspicious frame pushing thoughts of a trap to the forefront of his mind. He felt his hackles rise.

“It’s just one of the rotating omegas that comes to cook. Bonded, not a threat, and no longer here. Relax.” Snart kept his back to him as he spoke, moving to a small table to one side of the kitchen.

He turned and pulled out a chair, waving to it, but when Barry remained fixed to the spot Snart’s brows rose. “You wanna come eat or are you gonna stand there all night ready to pick a fight with a _scent_?” 

At the mention of eating the smell hit him with sharp clarity and his eyes snapped to the table and the food laid out on it. His stomach gave a demanding twist and for once there was a pull stronger than his omega pushing his feet to move. He made his way over to Snart slowly, stopping at the offered chair that the alpha still held pushed out for him and was hit with a dilemma. He had yet to turn his back on Snart, his edgy omega _demanded_ that he didn’t, it went against the instinct driving him, and he had no desire to now. But the food was there and it was clear that Snart expected him take the proffered chair and do exactly that. 

Though maybe he could ignore Snart long enough, wait until he grew bored and took his own seat before he sat? Maybe—

“Sit.”

Well, that was a no. That wouldn’t be happening then if he heard the hard edge in Snart’s tone right. He felt cornered… actually it was his _omega_ that felt cornered, mentally pacing back and forth, a bundle of uncontrolled apprehension, ready to lash out. _He_ was a nervous wreck _because_ his omega was so out of control. His heart beat painfully in his chest as he looked up at Snart who watched him with a blank face. 

“It’s not hard to do Scarlet. Just turn, plant your cute little ass in the seat and then we’ll eat.” 

The power play between his omega and Snart kept him frozen, anxiousness rising as Snart’s eyes narrowed. 

“Now.” It was quiet, final and like before, in the sitting room, something about Snart at that moment had his omega shifting, fixing all its attention on something that Barry couldn’t put his finger on. 

He breathed out slowly, turning to sit, though he kept his back twisted, head angled to keep the alpha in his line of sight and when he finally sat Snart smiled down at him and again Barry was hit with the impression that there was something he should pay attention to here, something he should be aware of. 

“Not so hard was it?” It was said softer this time, low and easy and Barry forced himself to relax as Snart moved to sit in the chair beside him, motioning to the other omegas in the room to have a seat. 

Just as they pushed their chairs in, Mick walked in, placing himself in the seat next to Cisco who immediately tensed. Like a chain reaction, the unease in Cisco had Barry’s muscles coiling, his focus zeroing in on the alpha that was entirely too close to one of his omegas and his response to Cisco’s fed onto Caitlin. 

“Cut it out,” Mick said, his nose scrunched as he took in the omegas. “Your stench is gonna make me lose my appetite.”

“Don’t sit so close to him.” Barry’s lips snapped shut. He hadn’t meant to say it out loud and had no idea where it came from. 

Mick’s eyes narrowed at the demand. “What are you gonna do about it, _omega_?”

Barry’s aggression rose, ready to snarl, except the challenge that was so blatantly expressed in the alpha’s voice, when Snart cut in.

“Mick.” Snart shrugged lightly, his lips tilted up at one side, and Mick rolled his eyes.

“Fine.” He pushed his chair further around the table and away from Cisco. “If it means they’ll plug the stink so I can eat.”

Barry couldn’t help it, even after moving Rory was still not as far as the omega would have liked and without thinking he reached across Caitlin and took hold of the arm of Cisco’s chair, tugging with weakened muscles, and the help of a wide-eyed Cisco, to shift it closer to the female omega and away from the alpha.

Once he was as close as the chairs allowed for Barry sat back huffing from the effort.

Mick scoffed. “The kid’s something else Lenny.”

Snart hummed in agreement, his finger tapping at his lips, before he took a deep breath, “Well,” he started, looking to Barry, “dig in.” Without much fanfare he tore his eyes away and began filling his own plate. 

He felt the other omegas watching him and had to stop himself from gritting his teeth, really not wanting to be the first of them to reach for the food. The whole situation was surreal. They were sitting with Captain Cold and Heatwave in the Santini Mansion that was apparently Snart’s now, at the kitchen table getting ready to eat like it was an everyday occurrence to sit with your enemies and share a meal. 

It was just plain _awkward_.

He turned to look at his friends and noticed an equally uncomfortable look in their eyes that had him squaring his shoulders despite his own unease. With a deep breath he reached across Caitlin and took Cisco’s plate and bowl, filling it with what looked like vegetable soup, placed a chicken breast and roll on the plate before setting them in front of Cisco, purposely ignoring the prickly tension of the situation. He looked up just as he’d finished doing the same with Caitlin’s and found both Snart and Rory still and watching him again. 

Mick was the first to speak. “Can they not get their own food?”

Barry let defiance he didn’t really feel any longer form in his eyes, unwilling to call out the other omega’s discomfort, his own omega unwilling to let the alpha see _his_ unease with the situation. 

“Can I not take care of them?” he questioned back.

The alphas brows rose and he seemed to think on it for a moment before shrugging. “Fair enough.” 

He went back to eating and Barry was left with the unnerving feeling of Snarts thoughtful gaze on him. He filled his own plate and bowl with noticeably smaller portions, knowing that in his current state of undernourishment his eyes were definitely bigger than his stomach. 

He didn’t have to look up to feel the frown Snart gave him. 

“So, tell me what happened at S.T.A.R. Labs.”

Once again he felt Caitlin and Cisco look at him. Without looking back he gave them a subtle nod. And again, he could feel Snart’s perceptive eyes drill into him. It was becoming a pattern and the calculating looks were becoming more and more infuriating.

He didn’t look up, content for now to let his omegas talk while he focused on eating slowly even though his body ached to be filled. He listened with half an ear as Cisco and Caitlin filled the alphas in on what they knew of the explosion and the year and a half they’d spent there before they had decided they had to leave. 

“And where were you planning on going?” Snart asked.

“Just out of the city, away from the population.” Cisco answered.

He heard Snart scoff. “Then it’s good you bumped into me.”

At this Barry looked up and expectantly at Snart. 

Snart tore a piece off his roll and popped it in his mouth before sitting back and elaborating. “The borders of the city are all patrolled. In the beginning all the omegas looking to leave were wrangled up there and sent to the Camps.” He shrugged looking bored. “Mostly police but there’s a good number of random alphas looking to make a quick buck and you probably wouldn’t have made it to the camps without being… _sampled_ first.”

He shuddered at the implication and could feel the disappointment rolling off his friends so he turned and gave them a small smile of reassurance. There was no use crying over spilt milk and he tried to convey that. What’s done was done. He did his best to keep his own disappointment in check as to not bleed it out onto them. They had tried and that’s what mattered. They’d find another way. 

He swirled his spoon in the bowl, watching the soup move with the motion and lifted it before realizing that he wasn’t hungry anymore. He wasn’t sure if it was the letdown or if he was actually full. Either way, he pulled the spoon from the bowl, placing it on the napkin next to the dish and turned to watch the other omegas eat. 

They had all needed to eat but he would have been happy even if it had just been them getting the food. He gave a small contented sigh and sat back, his omega humming happily at the sight of Caitlin and Cisco enjoying their first real, _full_ meal they’d had in entirely too long. 

“You need to eat more.” 

Barry’s head snapped around at Snarts words, not because he spoke but because of the tone in which they were said. It had very much been a command. The alphas expression was hard, and though his eyes were strangely soft, he could see the steel behind them, like he wouldn’t tolerate disobedience, no coaxing or second chances as he’d done with the chair. 

Barry felt his eyes narrow, his omega taking up a defensive stance, but before he could put his foot in his mouth Caitlin interrupted him. 

“A-Actually he may not be able to eat any more.” Snarts hard gaze shifted to her and Barry watched her go pale. 

He sat up ready to defend her but she continued on. “This meal is larger than anything we’ve been used to in the last eighteen months and Barry--,” she flicked her eyes to him and then back to Snart, “Barry always gave us some of his portion so his stomach probably can’t hold much at the moment. He might be sick if he eats more,” she finished weakly, looking sick herself. She dropped her gaze to her plate, unable to hold eye contact with Snart any longer.

Barry could feel her anxiety and felt that protective part of him flare to life, he was about to lean into her, block her from Snart’s stare, when Rory’s sharp scent reached him. He jerked his eyes to the alpha as he felt the female omega relax. 

The animal in him whirled because this wasn’t right, this was _his_ job. It was fine earlier in the car, he’d been too preoccupied to panic at the alpha pheromones, regarding them with nothing more than distaste. Now, with a clearer head and full stomach, his omega took offence at the presumption that one of his pack needed comfort from someone like Rory, from an _alpha_. 

His eyes burned holes into the man across the table but Heatwave did nothing more than continue eating, stealing a few glances over to Caitlin and only spoke after she had eased. 

“No need to get all jumpy Doll.”

Snart tapped his fingers on the table. “He’s right. Your argument is logical so I’ll concede.” 

He moved his attention back to Barry with an impatient sigh, pushing his own comforting warmth out, letting it creep around Barry softly instead of crashing over him like the times before.

The omega felt the wariness seeping through his bones intensify at the feeling, easily shaking off the sensation making Snart frown again. His back was stiff and his eyes were wide with sharp urgency as he watched the effect it had on the others who looked at ease with their eyes closed and deep even breaths. The need to protect his friends was overpowering and the two alphas in the room made him feel helpless to do that. It wasn’t a feeling he liked and his omega wanted to swipe at the air to keep their pheromones away from his omegas. 

A thoughtful sound came from Snart’s direction. “Easy Barry. You’re safe, _they_ are safe. No one is going to hurt them.” 

Barry’s hands gripped the arms of his chair and he leaned forward. “Stop doing that _thing_. Get it away from them.” His teeth were clenched, fighting against the invisible caress.

“They’re freaking out Scarlet. _You’re_ freaking out. They need it.”

Barry snapped, the dishes on the table clattering as his fist slammed onto the table top. “ _I_ can handle it! It’s _my_ job! Just stop!”

There was a whimper from beside him but instead of grounding him, reining him in like the two omegas negative emotions usually did, it only served to intensify his frenzied state that was quickly bordering on hysterical. 

Snart and Rory shared a look at his outburst, one that did nothing to soothe him, before Snart picked up his napkin and tossed it on his plate. 

He pushed his chair back and stood, “Mick, keep them happy and eating. Barry and I need to have a chat.”

“What? No! I’m not leaving th--”

He was cut off as Snarts hand wrapped around his upper arm, jerking him up like he weighed nothing, the force causing him to yelp at the jarring of his bones.

There was no time for more protest as he was dragged from the room faster than his feet could carry him, Snart’s long strides and the grip on his arm pushing him out and through the house as he struggled and tripped, trying to stay upright.

The alpha took them to a room that smelled more like Snart than any other area he’d passed and the door was shut with a bang before he was tossed into a cushioned lounge chair.

Barry scrambled to stand only to drop back when the other man stepped into his space, crowding him.

“Sit _down_!” 

Never, even during their more spectacular fights as The Flash and Captain Cold, _never_ had he heard that tone come from the other man. 

It was loud, growling, and even Barry’s omega froze at the sound of it because it was _not_ the tone of a normal man, it was laced with an animalistic demand that left no room for argument. 

Barry looked up at him with wide eyes, panting and still and Snart stared back nostrils flared and his icy blue eyes like steel, something hovering behind them, prowling, pacing, and waiting for the chance to pounce. 

Fear tickled up his spine and Snart blinked, once—twice—and then took a deep breath, the tension in his shoulders easing as he brought his hand up to rub at his face. 

“Ok,” he said after a moment. “Ok Barry. I understand now. I get it.”

Barry’s body twitched involuntarily as Snart turned and sat in the chair opposite him. 

“I didn’t see it before because you’re a goddamn feral _mess_ but I see it now.”

He should have asked Snart what the hell he was talking about but he couldn’t form the question. He sat frozen, his omega on full alert and for once, both sides of him were in agreement. _Still, quiet, small._ Those three words rang through his mind like a chant and he followed the instructions to a T. 

“But you’re scaring them Scarlet.” Snart’s voice took on a gentler note. “They’re afraid because you’re working yourself into a frenzy and in turn, scaring them _more_ which only works _you_ up more. It makes it harder on Mick and I to do our job.”

Barry’s shook his head, the words breaking through the mantra in his head. “It’s _my_ job.” He repeated. “They’re mine.” 

Snart took another deep breath as if he needed to draw patience from the action. “No to both.”

When Barry’s mouth opened, the argument on the tip of his tongue, Snart held a finger up, his voice going hard again. “Quiet.” 

His lips pressed together in a tight line, still too cowed to ignore the demand.

“You asked me to take you three in and I’ve done that. That makes them _and_ you temporarily _mine_. Therefor it’s _my_ job and through extension, Mick’s.”

Barry’s heart skipped. “Temporarily?”

“Temporarily,” he nodded, “but we’ll discuss that after you’ve calmed down, on your own, without my influence. I need your head clear. So for now, you and I are going to sit here quietly until you’ve got ahold of yourself. Once you’ve done that we’ll go back to the others.”

Barry’s chest thumped painfully. Temporarily… Did that mean Snart would let them go? 

_No_ , he heard his omega hiss. Alphas didn’t do that. They wouldn’t. 

So what would he do? 

Anything. Snart could do anything he wanted.

Barry’s head began swirling again. The options Snart had before him crashed through Barry’s mind, each more sickening and more terrifying than the next. Air became harder to draw in and he gasped raggedly. 

“Easy.”

His eyes snapped back to Snart, lifting from where he’d dropped them unconsciously to stare at the floor. The man sat relaxed with his fingers interlocked over his stomach, watching him calmly with an unreadable expression. So composed and worry-free. The air of someone that didn’t have any cares, like he had never experienced what it felt like to be so completely at someone else’s mercy. He was so _in control_ , the complete opposite of Barry. 

He wanted… he wanted to go back to the Lab. Back to the peace and quiet and daily easygoing routine that he’d once thought would drive him to insanity. He wanted to scrub their threadbare clothes with his chapped fingers and sweep and dust and take inventory, _anything_ other than this. He wanted to lay on his small cot on the floor next to Caitlin and Cisco and doze or talk quietly, run his nose through their hair, feel theirs against his, take in the sweet scent of each other. 

He didn’t want to be here.

His chest tightened further and a tear escaped as his stomach rolled, protesting against the food mixed with the turmoil rocking through him. 

He gagged, vomit surging forward but just as he was about to lean over Snart’s heavy blanket dropped over him. 

“You’ve always had to be difficult, haven’t you?”

The baritone voice wrapped around his head but something in the words pulled at the edge of his mind and had his brows drawing together, trying to remember, and forcing awareness to surge forward. 

There was a sigh, the rustle of movement and then he was lifted and the cloud around him suddenly became a cavern of shelter as he was wrapped in a cocoon that felt like hot stone. It surrounded his back and legs where they were forced to curl close to his chest in the small, enclosed cavity he sat in and his head was pushed to lay against a too-warm wall. The swift overwhelming feeling of refuge turned his limbs to mush and he pressed his face into it seeking to bury himself further in the comfort as his fingers came up to flex against the wall he was pressed to.

Fingers combed through his hair, like an invisible entity there within the cavern with him and he sighed.

“It figures. If you can’t be Flash the universe had to make you _something_ special.”

Barry’s heavy lids opened with effort at the words that floated down to him in the cloudy haze, like honey pouring thick over him. His head fell back and a keening pine fluttered from his throat as twin clear, cloudless blue skies orbited above him, mesmerizing him in his tranquil state.

The fingers moved from his hair and trailed over his forehead, brows, and down to his cheek, the touch barely there yet leaving a burning tingle behind them. 

“I should have torn that son-of-bitches head from his fucking neck.”

The honeyed voice morphed, icing over and causing the peace in the cavern to ripple and waver. It wasn’t good, it was angry and unpleasant and a quiet whimper pushed through his throat, his fingers tightening around the wall, oddly able to sink into it. 

There was a grunt and the cavern shifted as something came over his hand, easing it to lay flat again as the unpleasant feeling left and he was once again surrounded by warmth. 

His hand was drawn up and a searing sensation was brushed over his knuckles. 

“Shhh, I’m sorry Barry.”

His fingers were unfolded, prickles scratched over his palm and his lips parted at the feeling as his eyes were drawn back up to the blue above him.

“I like you a lot better like this. No fear tainting your scent. No fighting, no challenges. Just soft and sweet. I could get used to it but…” a sigh, “we need to move this along.”

The cocoon jolted around him, forcing him straighter, his head falling away from the wall to roll back against an… an arm.

The twin skies morphed into gentle blue eyes that Barry had the distinct feeling shouldn’t hold any form of kindness and slowly, bit by bit, the warmth receded as his mind cleared and awareness came back to him. 

He sat in the alpha’s lap, curled and pressed against the hard body, Snart’s arms wrapped tightly around him, blocking his legs from straightening. His body was lax, languid, his muscles heavy and loose and Snart smiled down at him.

“How you feeling there Scarlet?”

His eyes squeezed close at the words, his head shaking as he swallowed. 

“I… I feel… drunk?”

The smile dropped into a teasing smirk. “Yeah? So all I gotta do to get you to play nice is get you drunk?”

Barry groaned, his mind still too hindered to find offence. “No. No, I don’t like this.”

Snart’s fingers brushed over his hair one last time before he nodded. “Ok, I’m gonna sit you up and move away.”

Distantly Barry decided that the hand in his hair was nice even though, just as distant, something told him it shouldn’t be and when Snart spoke Barry unconsciously curled his hands into the alpha’s shirt, tightening to hold him in place. He didn’t like the current feeling, his spot though… his spot was nice.

There was silence from above him and then quietly, “We can sit here a few more minutes if you need to.”

He nodded. Yes, yes he wanted to stay just like this, stay curled in Snarts lap and….

Barry’s eyes snapped open and his face reddened as he looked at his hands fisting against Snart, keeping him pressed to the other man. He jerked them away and down to his lap as mortification raced through him. 

Snart chuckled, the movement making his body jump with it, and he pushed himself to look up, wide eyed at the alpha. 

He yelped as his position hit him like a brick to the face and he scrambled out of Snart’s lap to fall with a thump at the alphas feet making Snart’s chuckle deepen. 

The room spun as he stood and he closed his eyes against the sudden blur of colors, feeling his body sway but then warm hands grasped his waist, pushing him back upright. 

“ _Steady_ Barry,” he warned. “Take your time.”

The other man stood and turned them, easing Barry back into the seat, and instead of moving away like he’d said earlier, he remained standing in front of him, close enough that Barry’s head could lean against his thigh, uncaring of the position, because even though he knew he shouldn’t, the scent of Snart felt like a lifeline, a fix that he needed. Every bit of his being told him that if he pulled away he’d _crash and burn_. So he listened and kept his forehead pressed to the leg of the bigger man, deeply inhaling the alphas scent as he fought to find solid ground again. 

Calloused fingers traced the back of his neck.

“What,” he cleared his throat against the hoarseness in his voice. “What was that?”

“The same lull from earlier, just a little stronger. It strengthens with contact too.”

Barry didn’t respond. He kept his breathing even and deep, letting his body adjust. The minutes ticked by and gradually Barry was able to sit up without dizziness overtaking him. Snart’s hand dropped easily as he did and he took a step back. 

Barry drug his hands over his face, scrubbing the building humiliation away. 

“Don’t feel like that. It’s normal, more than you realize.” Snart’s reassurances did nothing to quell the rise of embarrassment.

“I’m tired,” he said with a roll of his neck.

Snart nodded. “Yeah, it happens.”

“How long till it goes away?”

A shrug. “It’s different for everyone. Part of the reason I didn’t want to use it on you. We’ve got things to discuss and I wanted to make sure you weren’t influenced.”

Barry noted that there was no surge of anxiousness at the statement. It was odd. He could feel small trickles of emotions, the ones that were less strenuous, but fear, nervousness, panic, even sadness, everything he felt earlier was gone.

He blinked up at Snart. “Can we… can we go back now?”

He wanted his omegas. He wanted to make sure they were safe though the urgency he would normally feel at being separated from them was nonexistent. It was almost as if it were for his own comfort rather than their safety. 

Snart’s face was blank and a few seconds passed without a response Barry scooted forward in the chair. 

“Please? I’ll be calm. I won’t—won’t freak out. I won’t scare them anymore.”

The alpha continued to look down at him quietly, though his brows did raise. Just as Barry was about to slump back in disappointment Snart drew his hand out, palm up in offering. 

Hope nudged him forward and he slid his still shaking fingers into the others, who closed around his and pulled him up out of the seat. 

Once he was standing Snart nodded down at him. “ _Very_ good Barry. Now you stay like this the rest of the night and we won’t have any problems, yeah?”

Barry nodded and Snart turned, guiding him from the room and back to the kitchen, his hand pressed to the small of Barry’s back as if he expected him to topple over any moment. 

The door opened and he sighed at the scent of his omegas, moving forward without guidance to brush his fingers along their shoulders, sighing again when they shifted into his touch, echoing his reassurance. He was a fraction of a second away from leaning down and burying his nose in their hair when Snart’s voice broke through his reunion. 

“Have a seat Barry.”

There was only a tickling of defiance but not enough to stop him from shifting away and to his chair. He sat easily and Snart moved his glass of water over to Barry.

“Sip that.”

The tinkling sound of ice on glass sounded as he brought the glass to his lips, sipping at the cold liquid. As he sat it back down Snart nodded. “Again. Drink at least half the glass, slow slips.”

Barry moved to comply, turning to keep his eyes on the other omegas in the room. They looked back to him and in their typical fashion they all silently conveyed their safety.

“Thought we weren’t supposed to go that deep?”

Barry shifted to Mick who sat back, his lighter out and flickering but looking expectantly at Snart.

“It wasn’t exactly planned Mick,” Snart snapped, the sharpness of it causing a rippling wave of fear over the other two omegas.

Barry stilled.

The feel of Caitlin and Cisco and his desire to protect them, the need that was ingrained in everything he was began tapping at him and growing stronger. 

In a daze he turned back to Caitlin and Cisco, barely hearing Micks retort of “Softy,” as he was slowly drawn in by the distress leaking from them.

“Don’t you _dare_.”

Barry blinked, his focus returning to Snart who looked at him with a pointing finger. “You made a promise and if you back out of it now I’ll drag your ass right back out of here. Shake it off and drink the water.”

His brows drew together and he swallowed thickly as a fist mentally pounded at him to acknowledge the omegas.

His head shook and he lifted the glass to his lips, focusing on the coolness on his tongue and comparing it to Snart’s wintery scent. Anything other than the smell of his omegas who, he noted, were already beginning to calm. 

By the time he’d finished half the glass the occupants of the room had settled. Snart and Rory were facing each other, bent close and speaking too softly for Barry to hear. Cisco and Caitlin were tired, but he could feel the calm they felt. 

Well… not so much calm, more like disciplined ease. Their hands clasped each other’s under the table and when Barry set his glass down Caitlin brought her free hand over to his lap which he took happily. The three of them looked back and forth between the other silently pushing emotions back and forth to communicate, something they’d picked up doing late one night at the Lab months ago. It was easy for them. Almost easier than speaking out loud. 

So caught up in Cisco’s chocolate eyes, Caitlin’s light brown ones, and the curiosity that Cisco was currently pushing his way, he’d failed to notice that Snart and Rory were silent once again.

“You three…” Snart started making Barry jump and whirl to face him. “…are the _strangest_ thing I’ve seen yet.”

Barry chewed his lip in thought, his omega quiet, for the first time giving him no opinion and leaving him to decide what course to take on his own. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask why Snart thought so when the man leaned forward and crossed his arms on the edge of the table. 

“Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way before we have any more distractions.”

His eyes landed and stayed on Barry as he spoke, obviously watching and gauging his reaction to this words. 

“I can’t have three unclaimed omega’s running around here. It’s not safe for you and frankly, you guys are a distraction.” 

Barry felt his stomach drop and Snart locked onto Barry with a telling look that told him to keep it together. He raised his brows and held a finger out in a pacifying manner before he spoke again. 

“So you have three choices. Either you allow me to find you suitable alphas to bond with, you take your chances of a fair match at the Camps, _or_ you choose to go to an Omega House.”

A moment passed before Cisco asked hesitantly, “Wh-what’s an Omega House?” 

Snart’s brows rose and he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, humor making a comeback and he tried and failed to hide it forming over his features. 

“A place where my _favorite_ kind of omega resides,” he said with a smirk.

Suspicion began festering but Barry was able to keep the sound of it from his voice.

“And what kind of omega is that?” he asked tiredly.

Snart’s smile deepened and it was Mick that answered him, his voice the same deadpan matter-of-fact tenor it always seemed to have. 

“Pleasure omegas.”

Barry paled and he heard Caitlin gasp next to him. He couldn’t help the horrified whisper that escaped. 

“A whore house?”

The amusement left Snarts face, and something inside Barry told him that he’d said the wrong thing. Snart didn’t comment on the term but he shrugged. 

“If you’d like to call it that.”

“We’d be ra--” Caitlin started.

Snart held his hand up. “Let me just stop you there.” 

He tilted his head and gave her a questioning look. 

“You do realize that all the Omega Houses in my territory are filled with _willing_ omegas?”

He felt Caitlin’s skepticism and was in agreement, unable to believe that any omega would willingly sign up to be used by different alphas over and over. 

What kind of person would do that? Or better yet, _why_ would someone do that? 

“How big is your territory?” Barry paused at the unexpected question from Cisco, pulled from his thoughts at the abrupt change of subject.

He leaned forward to give the male omega a quizzical look but Snart’s response had his head whirling back like a whip with wide eyes. 

“The U.S is split into three territories. One is mine.”

He felt the weight of that statement settle over him like a boulder. 

That… that was a lot of territory. A lot of _power_.

And _of course_ Snart wouldn’t have settled for Central alone. There’s no way one city would be considered a full territory anyway. _Why_ did he not understand the full inference of his discovery earlier? 

He felt like an idiot.

Snart wasn’t just an alpha with a good amount of authority and _one_ city… he was a _High Alpha_ which meant he sat on the counsel they’d heard about. The man _literally_ owned a part of the United States. It was his and he’d killed savagely for it. 

Why hadn’t the news mentioned that it was _him_? Why hadn’t the people that had tapped into the satellite signal not thought that was important enough to mention?

He shivered.

“You ok there Scarlet? Or do we need to step out again?”

Barry took in a shaky breath, unable to look up at the man, and shook his head.

He felt Caitlin’s worry for him and reached under the table to pat her leg, soothing the feeling.

Pacified, she turned to Snart. “How do you keep order with a territory of that size? We heard there were challenges.”

“In the beginning,” he nodded. “Not anymore. We have a new government and all the alphas on the counsel have the protection of the others.”

Snart shifted in his seat and Barry finally brought his gaze up to look at the man next to him, then to Rory, seeing both with a new set of eyes and realizing how right he’d been when he told the others that Snart was different, that they weren’t dealing with the same men they’d once known.

“Think of me like the president of my country,” he continued, “with some exceptions. I make all the major decisions but still have appointed _managers_ in several areas to watch over their assigned zones, governors if you’d like. We have military and police. It’s a functioning government.” 

“So what would that other alpha have done with us? If the Omega Houses are for willing omegas then he couldn’t have taken us there. Would it have been to the Camps? Alphas don’t keep more than one omega do they?”

Mick snorted at Cisco’s line of questions. “Pretty clear what he wanted to do with Red.”

Barry’s stomach turned as he thought of the alpha from the alley. The image of him rutting over Barry, rotten breath hitting his face, sweating and stinking, was easy to picture. It made his skin crawl.

Snart shot Rory an annoyed look before answering. “I doubt he would have taken you to the Camps. The payout is good but not that good. He probably would have sold you. Trafficking is illegal in my territory but it’s not unheard of. Just like before. And yes, alphas only bond with one omega.”

“So, when you gave that money to the other alpha…?”

“It was _technically_ illegal but I exercised my right as High Alpha and stepped in to help three unbonded omegas. He received more from me than he could have dreamed of getting from traffickers let alone the Camp.” 

A smirk moved back to his lips. “Just because I make the laws here doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy breaking them occasionally. What can I say?” he shrugged. “I’m a rebel at heart.”

“What happens at the camps?” Barry asked quietly, the pitch drawing a serious light to Snart’s eyes.

“The same thing that happened here. You get a choice. Go to an Omega House or bond.”

He nodded and turned to look at the other omegas, making eye contact with both.

“Why don’t you guys take a minute to decide?”

Barry shook his head as he looked at the others then turned to Snart. There was no point in holding it off. The end result landed them in the path of an alpha whether they liked it or not, it was just a matter of deciding how to go about it.

He couldn’t quite meet the alphas eyes, his gaze landing somewhere near Snart’s shoulder. “No. No, we don’t need a minute.”

He took a deep breath. “I-I can’t- _we_ can’t….” he trailed off feeling the hopelessness of the situation climb before he finally brought his gaze up to Snart, aware that his eyes were pleading. “I have to keep them safe,” he whispered.

Barry was too worn down, the day’s events colliding with the lull that Snart had put him in, to even care that Snart’s eyes took on a look of pity. 

“No Barry.” He leaned forward, and his voice wasn’t sarcastic or laced with a cocky drawl. It was low and serious. “Their _alphas_ have to keep them safe. _Your_ alpha needs to keep you safe or the owner of the Omega House will keep you safe.” He shook his head and gave Barry a look with an odd mix of kindness and rigidity, finality in his next words. “ _You_ cannot keep them safe. You are not an alpha.”

Barry’s eyes filled with tears but he nodded. Snart was right, he’d known he couldn’t. He felt the strain but did what he had to do, running purely on instinct. He couldn’t keep them safe, he _didn’t_ keep them safe. They’d practically starved for over a year before he nearly let their bodies give out on a fool’s mission to escape something they couldn’t. If it hadn’t been for Snart they could have been assaulted, brutalized, sold off, or worse. And now here they were between a rock and a hard place being forced to choose which one to beat themselves against. 

He felt a tear slide down his cheek and quickly brushed it away, nodding again. “We can’t go to an Omega House. How would it work at the Camps?”

A flash of something raced over Snart’s face that Barry couldn’t place and his voice reverted back to his usual drawl. 

“You’d have the chance to meet with several alphas and find a connection that works for you.” He shrugged and tilted his head pointedly. “ _But_ if you take too long to decide or can’t find a compatible match, you go to the auction and your choice is forfeit.”

Barry gave a shuddering breath, a combination of his tears and disgust at the thought of being auctioned like a slave. “And you?”

“I would do my best to pair you with alphas that are best suited to you.”

Barry nodded absently, his mind sifting through his options and any possible outcomes. The omega in him was hesitant, strangely quiet but provided him with tentative options. It knew that possible freedom lurked beyond these doors, though now he knew there were no free areas, there was no unclaimed territory to seek refuge in and if he couldn’t get away he’d be forced to bond with an alpha that, in his omegas opinion, could quite possibly be unworthy of him. 

On the other hand, though his omega was wary of Snart, there was an odd desire to stay close to the alpha. Logically, he knew that he wouldn’t be staying with the man but his omega seemed to skip over that bit and unlike the Caitlin and Cisco, he’d always had a hard time ignoring the voice of his omega. It pushed and influenced all his decisions. 

So he nodded slowly, unable to look at the man. “Then… then I suppose you’re the best option.”

“So you consent to allowing me to find you an alpha to bond with?”

“Yes,” he whispered feeling as if a door had just slammed and locked. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. 

“And you two? Do you consent as well?”

Barry knew without opening his eyes that the other omegas nodded. 

“Then it’s settled. Why don’t you three head to bed? Mick and I have some things to discuss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first, sorry updates are taking so long. This is kind of a busy time for me. Plus, it really doesn't help that I keep rewriting chapters.
> 
> Second, I edited past chapters to fit with what I've rewritten. Nothing anyone will probably notice though. I'm just giving those who do a heads up. 
> 
> Third, this chapter ends somewhat abruptly. That's because I literally could not stop writing or find an ending point, I just knew I wanted to post something tonight but I HAVE to stop. It's late here and I've been up since 5am. I need sleeeeep! So, Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 will be more like a Part 1 and Part 2.
> 
> Finally, be prepared. After this chapter Barry's omega will have a bigger role so there's some serious OOCness in the future. (As if they already aren't out of character!)

The morning found Barry leaning on the large window seat in their room, his legs drawn up to his chest and Snart’s t-shirt was pulled over them like a tent with only his feet sticking out. He’d sat in the quiet and watched the sun rise over the tree line, its rays shooting down them, past them, to draw away the shadows and he tried to remember the last time he’d done this. It had to have been years. They’d been shut away at the Lab, too afraid to open the doors and when they finally left he couldn’t risk letting his guard down for something as trivial as watching the sun rise. 

And before, well, he honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d even had the desire to do so. 

If the last year and a half had taught him anything it was that he’d taken way too much for granted. Things that didn’t seem important before now made his chest tighten with happiness, so much so that it was downright embarrassing. 

But watching his omegas receive those things? Seeing the happiness and pleasure on their faces for such ordinary things that should have been basic? That _hurt_. They’d been denied too much and it was because of him.

He hadn’t been able to sleep most of the night, the majority of it he tossed and turned in an uncomfortable doze, his mind too busy to let him enjoy the first real bed they’d had in a very long time. 

He’d gone over every piece of information he’d been given, every syllable Snart had spoken, put everything on a mental chart and examined it. He’d pushed through an array of emotions until there was nothing left but acceptance. 

He felt _different_. At some point in the night his body loosened, the tension fell and while his mind told him over and over to stay vigilant, something else told him everything was fine and he chose to listen to that something because it felt like his omega, sounded like his omega, even if it wasn’t _acting_ like his omega. 

In the soft light of the morning he had come to terms with the changes that were about to take place in his life. He wasn’t exactly at peace with the decision, more like he just didn’t want to fight anymore. He _couldn’t_. He was bone-weary and tired, like his very soul couldn’t put up with much more. He would still do everything in his power to make sure his omegas where happy and safe (despite being unable to protect them, they were still _his_ ) but he couldn’t keep up with the responsibility anymore. He’d heard the hidden meaning behind Snarts words last night. He wasn’t criticizing Barry for acting like an alpha, he was telling him that the responsibility he’d taken on was too taxing, physically and mentally for an omega. Nature wouldn’t allow it for long and if his current exhaustion was anything to go by, it had already begun taking its toll on him. 

Snart… he tried to ignore what the man had to become, what Barry was sure he’d done to get to where he was, and instead focused on how he’d been treating them, the civility that he had _mostly_ spoken to them with, the consideration he’d shown them. It had been far more than he expected. 

Snart had no obligation to them, he hadn’t needed to bring them here, he didn’t have to let them bathe or eat and he certainly had no reason to allow them to stay in the same room together. That was all a kindness. He could have easily sent them to the camps to make the same decision they would have been presented with regardless of the location. He may not like it but he knew there were no other options and Snart was doing what he could to help them.

He tried to let himself trust Snart. The omega side of him oddly didn’t put up a fight at the thought. In fact, it had been uncharacteristically _reasonable_ since last night, at least as reasonable as the dramatic omega _could_ be or that Barry had ever even experienced with it. Snart’s pheromone trick seemed to mollify it and now it was content to sit back and observe rather than criticize, offer small words of advice that pushed him _toward_ Snart instead of away from him, hinted that he should trust him. And honestly, after all that he’d already done it made no sense for Barry _not_ to trust him. He couldn’t imagine that Snart would maliciously give them to alphas that would harm them. He ignored the quick twist in his stomach at the thought of being given away like objects, stamping it down before it could fester. He told himself that it would all be ok. He just needed to bend with the situation instead of standing against it. 

His thoughts were interrupted by a light knock. He turned his head in time to see the door open like the evening before, without warning. 

Snart came in, cool eyes first shifting to Barry who didn’t move from the window seat, then over to the bed were the other two omegas slept undisturbed before looking back to Barry.

He crossed his arms and leaned his shoulder against the wall near the doorway in a way that reminded him of the old Snart and for just a moment Barry saw a flash of the criminal again, complete with his leather jacket, faded jeans, and dark boots. 

“Morning.” His voice was low, obviously for the benefit of the sleeping occupants. 

“Good morning,” Barry replied, equally low.

He gave Barry a once over before asking, “Did you sleep?”

“Some,” he shrugged. “Too much on my mind.”

Snart nodded and turned his head to watch the two sleeping omegas.

“Don’t.” Snart’s eyes shifted back to him. 

“Don’t wake them up. Please.” He hugged his knees a little tighter but nodded toward them with a sigh, watching the way they had curled around each other. “It’s been a long time since they’ve gotten this.”

He looked back at Snart, surprising him with a playfully woeful smile. “I’m sure you can guess the mats in the lab weren’t the greatest and this last week hasn’t exactly been a vacation. They need this.”

Snart’s head cocked thoughtfully. “And you, Barry?” Snart asked. “What do you need?” His tone had a speculating edge to it but Snart’s eyes were open, honest, and it caught him off guard.

He shook his head and shrugged. “Me? I’m fine.”

Snart hummed, a glint in his eyes, narrowed and calculating, said he didn’t believe him but he didn’t press it. 

The alpha lifted away from the wall. “Actually it was you I was coming to speak with anyway. Come take a walk with me outside.” 

The idea of going outside after spending a week in it left him less than thrilled but he nodded anyway before unraveling his arms from around his knees. The chill on his bare legs made him hesitate and he looked up at Snart, very aware at that moment that he was only wearing a t-shirt. Heat blossomed in his cheeks. 

“Can you turn around for a moment?”

Snart smirked and gave a short, quiet laugh. 

“Sure,” he said in a drawl filled with pacifying amusement, like he saw no reason for turning but was doing it to mollify Barry. 

Barry wasn’t sure why he’d asked him to turn around either since the shirt came close to his knees. He supposed the intimacy of not having pants on rather that what could be seen was the real reason but nonetheless Barry waited until the man was fully turned before hopping up and padding over to grab the sweats that lay on the floor just behind the alpha. 

He stepped into them quickly but paused as he straightened, finding that he had an unguarded moment to take in the other man unnoticed. 

With all the disrupt from the day before he hadn’t had the chance to take in the changes Snart had undergone like the rest of them. He was momentarily brought back to the memory of the pain of his change, of the news going on about the nearly impossible transformations in alphas and omegas when they were hit with the force of the explosion, and the shock it had given them to discover those changes both visibly and _inside_ their bodies. While Caitlin, Cisco, and himself all seemed to have reduced in size, bones receding and shortening, becoming a more petite versions of themselves, Snart was noticeable taller, bulkier, still the same man but while Barry was a smaller version of himself, Snart was a larger version. 

Barry was taken aback again with the absurdity of it all. Though his body now happily told him that this was all natural, a small part of his brain still had a hard time wrapping around it and as he stood staring at the solid back of his former nemesis he felt almost ashamed that he was at least a foot shorter than the other man. 

The whole situation made him feel debased. A year and a half ago he and Snart stood at close to the same height and Barry could have easily overpowered him with the strength of the Speedforce. Now… now he was under his protection, waiting to be given away like he needed a caretaker, like he could no longer make decisions on his own, and he was _accepting_ it. The man could probably fling him around like a ragdoll and instead of that mortifying him Barry’s inner omega thrilled at the strength the alpha had. 

In _fact_ , the omega in him seemed to have perked up when Snart entered the room, alert and taking notes, though still fairly quiet. He realized he hadn’t felt his omega this calm in quiet some time. His eyes lingered on Snart, sniffing the air around him discretely and feeling around for any influences that the alpha might be putting off. When he detected nothing the small human part of him left told him that it was just because he was clean, better rested than he’d been in ages, and had gotten a decent meal last night. He decidedly ignored that his omega’s curiosity was peaked. 

He cleared his throat. “Thank you.” 

Snart turned back at the words, watching as Barry tightened the strings on the sweatpants as far as they would go, which still had them hanging low on his thin hips. The alpha took a step closer and brought his hand up to tilt Barry’s chin to the side. 

His omega stayed quiet. Barry didn’t flinch at the contact and the thought of shifting away never even crossed his mind.

“That’s one hell of a bruise Scarlet.”

Barry blinked before he understood what Snart was talking about, his cheek giving a sharp throb as if irritated at being forgotten. A flash of Snart brushing his fingers over it last night while he sat in a daze in his lap surged forward making his cheeks burn. 

“It’s fine,” he said as he pulled his chin away. “I hadn’t even noticed.” Actually he had yet to even look in a mirror, afraid of what he’d find when he did.

Snart hummed with a frown. “Well,” he gestured to the door, “ready?” 

Before long, Barry found himself walking next to the alpha along a pebbled trail beneath a row of big oaks. They were both silent, and Barry marveled at how different it was outside without the urgency he’d been feeling each morning the last week. Had it felt like this before? He couldn’t remember and honestly didn’t know if he’d ever taken notice of it. Yet another thing that he’d taken for granted.

It was quiet and peaceful, to the point it almost ached. There was dew clinging to the cut grass and Barry could smell the wetness in the air. Birds chirped in the trees above them and the sun cast rays through the branches to shine in small, dancing patches on the ground and for a moment he could pretend that the world hadn’t changed as nostalgia consumed him. 

A breeze swept by them carrying the smell of spring with it and Barry felt goosebumps rising. He gave a small shiver and rubbed the raised flesh on his arms. He supposed he should have been grateful that they hadn’t run out of food during the winter. He couldn’t imagine they’d have made it as far as they did. The early spring had been bad enough. Even though the afternoons were warm, the mornings and evenings still held a chill in the air that kept their bones stiff and their skin tight the entire week. 

His thoughts were cut off as Snart’s jacket was dropped over his shoulders. His initial reaction was to melt into the heat that suddenly surrounded him but when the realization of where the heat came from struck, embarrassment flooded through him. 

The omega in him purred at the attention he’d received, momentarily giving him pause, because what the fuck was it _doing_? But the other half, the half that seemed to be taking on the role of vigilance and pride now that the omega had decided to take a vacation, squawked that it was something you did for a woman and he most definitely was _not_ a woman. 

He quickly shrugged the jacket off, holding it back out to Snart.

“I’m fine.”

“Put the jacket back on, Barry.” The alpha kept his eyes forward but there was a lilt to the words, just a hint that he wasn’t in the mood for a fight. 

For a split second Barry considered letting it slip from his fingers to fall to the ground in defiance, to show the man what he thought of the demands, but his increasingly maddening omega startled him further by actually pulling back the aggression rising in him, telling him to give in just this once. 

He huffed with a scowl and awkwardly slipped his arms into the jacket, shivering at the scent that wafted up to him with the movement and had absolutely nothing to do with the chill in the air. 

It didn’t matter, after all, he _was_ a little cold.

His omega purred again and his confusion grew. The last year and a half his omega had been strict, guiding him at an animalistic level to survive and care for his pack and when they’d left the safety of the Lab its insistence had grown fiercer, pushing him to avoid alphas, keep them away, fight to protect himself. And now here it was telling him to give in to Snart, shoving him to lean into Snart’s guidance, whispering to him that Snart smelled _incredible_ … as if he hadn’t noticed. 

He stole a glace up at the man only to find him staring back with a curious look on his face.

“What’s with all the confusion this morning?”

Barry’s cheeks heated and he deflected the question with one of his own. “Can you feel _everything_ I feel?” 

Snart nodded. “Pretty much. I can’t feel the actual feeling but I know what you’re feeling. Similar to how you know what Cisco and Caitlin feel.” He shrugged, “It’s the same for me.”

Barry’s brows bunched together. He paused and tentatively scoped his surroundings looking for another set of emotions, wondering if maybe he’d missed it. It was possible that he hadn’t recognized a foreign feeling during all the drama of the previous days while he was so focused on the other omegas. But there was nothing, only Snart’s alpha scent. He moved his eyes back up to the other man to find him smiling down at him. 

“I can’t feel you?”

Snart’s smile grew. “No you can’t. Only when I _want_ you to.” The way it was said, the tone he’d used had Barry shifting uneasily as they walked. It sounded… endearing? “But just now I felt your curiosity, confusion, and disappointment.”

Another blush covered his cheeks and Snart chuckled but explained. “There’s a theory. Alphas aren’t exactly the gentlest of creatures. Lots of aggression, agitation, our minds always seem to be looking for a threat. And therein lies the problem. If our omegas could feel what we feel all the time they’d be in a constant state of stress and the scent of their fear would only make things worse for us, a never ending cycle. Therefore, you can only feel what I want you to feel.”

Barry mulled over it for a moment. “I suppose… that makes sense. So how does it work? How do you guys do that _thing_?”

Snart shook his head. “I’m not sure. It’s just there and I can project it to fit your mood or correct your behavior.”

He hummed, watching as the gravel moved around his shoes, the only possession saved from Mick’s fire since they were still in good condition. They hadn’t had much need for shoes at the Lab so they were practically new when they’d left though they were definitely too big now. 

He bit his lip. “Last night while we were in the other room… while we…” he huffed and cleared his throat, straightening. “Last night you implied that I was different. What did you mean by that?”

“Caught that did you?” He eyed Barry appraisingly. “For most omegas it’s like taking a nap. I’m not surprised it’s different for you.”

Barry was quiet, waiting for him to elaborate, watching as Snart seemed to be thinking on his next words.

Finally, “Depending on who you ask, there’s a hierarchy with alphas and omegas. Not all alpha’s and omegas are the same. Most alphas don’t acknowledge it because it means acknowledging that they aren’t meant for some omegas, that they can’t have whatever they want.”

Barry’s mind instantly snapped back to the day before. He nodded, “I can see that. The difference between a regular alpha and High Alpha was one of the first things I’d noticed outside the bar. I just didn’t realize you were a High Alpha yet, but there was a noticeable difference.”

“I see. And what _was_ the difference Barry?”

Barry shrugged, answering absently. “Scent mostly. You smell way better and it’s stronger. The other one smelled weak and really, _really_ bad. My omega told me you were the safer option because you were stronger. It felt better with you. I guess it just knew even though I don’t know how…” he trailed off as his eyes lifted to Snarts and finding a grin angling down at him. 

His eyes went wide and he stammered, “I-I mean… I didn’t--”

Snart’s clear laugh cut him off. “Relax. It’s natural. Your kind are attracted to stronger alphas.”

“I didn’t say I was _attracted_ to you!” He grimaced at the squeak in his voice, embarrassment racing through him. 

Snart laughed again. “I didn’t either. Just said that you like stronger alphas in general.” He cocked his head and gave Barry a look that was very much _not_ innocent curiosity. “ _Are_ you attracted to me Barry?”

His mouth dropped open before snapping it closed. His omega was curious about him that was _all_.

“It’s ok. You don’t have to _say_ anything.”

The implication was suggestive and Barry swallowed thickly. He turned to look the other way, bringing his hand up to his neck trying to rub away the heat creeping up. 

“Hierarchy,” he croaked. “We were talking about a hierarchy?” 

“I like this conversation better… but if we must.” He drew his arms behind him and continued. “Think of a pyramid. High Alphas on top, next various stages of regular alphas, some stronger than others, and then female alphas, who are technically more or less betas but it seems female empowerment overlapped in the new world and there was some fuss at calling them betas. So alphas they are. They have some of the perks of an alpha but their scent is fairly neutral, they aren’t as strong, and they can’t procreate.”

He looked down at Barry. “It’s the same for omegas. Those at the top that would be the equivalent of a High Alpha, then various stages of regular omegas. And in both pyramids those at the top are very rare.”

“And I’m one of the omegas at the top.” He didn’t need to ask, his omega was suddenly standing tall and proud at being recognized and Barry had to fight to keep from rolling his eyes at the snobbish behavior. 

“So, what does that mean? That I’m just stronger than other omegas? Not something to be too proud of since all omegas are still bottom of the pole.” 

Snart lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “You are stronger, true, but I don’t mean physically. You have a deeper connection to your omegan nature. It controls you more, instincts are sharper, and it’s not easily cowed by alphas. You fight, threaten, challenge, defy- everything that would have the typical omega shaking in their boots.” 

Barry scoffed, he wasn’t surprised. They’d always known he was different and this time he couldn’t stop the roll of his eyes because _of course_ he couldn’t just be normal. Snart’s words the night before were so accurate it was annoying. It was like he was the universes favorite toy. The Flash, not The Flash, omega, _rare_ omega. He sighed.

“And you’ve met others like this?”

“I have.” He nodded.

“And how are their lives working out for them? Cause right now it sounds like I’m everything that will piss an alpha off and make life harder for me. Which would be about right given how my life usually works.”

Snart chuckled quietly. “They seem quite happy Barry. There are certain alphas just right for your kind.”

Again, Barry didn’t have to be told. It was clear what kind of alpha Barry was meant for but before he could think further on it Snart continued.

“Which brings me back to the reason for our little chat this morning.” 

He turned them toward a bench, guiding Barry to sit and easing himself down beside him, his arm thrown behind Barry’s shoulders, resting along the back of the bench. 

“Your decision?” he asked. 

“My decision,” the alpha confirmed. 

Barry shivered despite the lingering heat of Snart’s jacket, nervousness prickling at him, but he took a deep even breath, telling himself that this is what he’d been preparing to accept all morning.

“Well that was quicker than I’d imagined.” It was said quietly after a moment, when he was sure he could get the words out without a tremor in his voice and it caused Snart to glance at him thoughtfully. Barry kept his own eyes forward, staring at the line of trees in front of them without actually seeing them. 

“What did you decide?”

Barry felt the movement behind him as Snart tapped his fingers along the edge of the bench. He continued watching Barry, not at all hiding that he was evaluating his reactions. 

“Before the turn, Cisco and my sister seemed to enjoy each other. Given that and the fact that she’s neutral I think it’s a good match.”

Barry found himself in agreement. There wasn’t much to think about. It made perfect sense. Cisco had been infatuated with her and Lisa had shown some interest in him. If there really wasn’t much scent to her like Snart said Cisco and Lisa could live relatively normal lives. Barry felt a surge of relief that at least one of them would be pleased. 

He nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. He’ll be happy.” He looked up at Snart. “I didn’t realize Lisa was... I mean I didn’t see her. I thought she was… one of the others.” 

Barry’s face must have leaked something of his meaning as he watched the alpha’s eyes soften, an explanation of reference unneeded. “Your family?” He asked softly.

Barry swallowed and looked away. “Gone.” He couldn’t bring himself to say ‘dead’ and luckily Snart understood.

Snart’s fingers came up from behind him, brushing along his cheek. “I’m sorry Barry.”

The image of Joe, Iris, and Wally laying cold and lifeless had his chest tightening and he fought his omega and the desire to lean into the fingers, accept the comfort. 

He shook his head, jerking the image and Snart’s fingers away.

“Who did you decide for Caitlin?” He asked firmly, making it clear his relatives were a topic he didn’t want to discuss. 

Snart gave him a look he couldn’t decipher, his hand falling back again, and his mouth thinned. It was a moment before he answered but when he did Barry felt the blood drain from his face. 

“Mick requested permission to bond with Caitlin.”

Barry jerked back as if he’d been slapped. “Mick? No! Snart I—”

The alpha held up a finger and interrupted. “Ah, ah. I had a feeling this would be your reaction and I’d like to remind you that all three of you consented to this, consented to my choice. Have some faith in that choice.” He shrugged. “Mick is actually just a big teddy bear.” He waved his hand as if it were obvious. “She’ll be fine.”

“A teddy bear that likes to burn people alive.” Barry retorted. 

Snart snorted. “Remind me not to give you details of my exploits during the last year and a half. Makes Mick look like a dream. I’m sure _The Flash_ would have fainted at the level of violence.”

He stiffened, mournful resentment jerking at him sharply. “Don’t call me that,” he snapped. “I’m not him.”

Snart’s face gentled again and Barry had to look away, tired of seeing that look on the other man, tired of seeing _pity_.

The alpha turned him back with a finger to his chin, eyes drifted over Barry’s face, as if seeing him for the first time, before reaching up and trailing the finger down his cheek, his voice quiet when he spoke. 

“No, you’re not. None of us are what we used to be.”

Barry turned his face away again, swallowing against the painful thump forming, pushing it down along with the painful memories.

The alphas arm wrapped around Barry’s stiff shoulders, and he knew that he should scoot away, stand, do something to dislodge the contact but it felt… good. Good to have someone to lean on rather than others leaning on him. So he stayed, Snarts heavy arm resting over him, his scent wafting up to surround him, and he sighed. 

The other man turned them back to the original topic. 

“Have you really not seen it?” He asked.

“Seen what?” He bit out, the reminder of what he used to be, the back and forth of emotions, and his lack of sleep the night before finally catching up to him. 

“Mick is infatuated with her. I’ve never seen him like this before.”

“He’s silent and distant. That’s _all_ I’ve seen.”

The large hand slid along Barry’s jacket covered arm. “Well I’ve known him longer than you. Trust me. Micks actually a decent guy when it comes to omegas and with the way he’s been acting around her I know he’s going to spoil that girl rotten.”

Barry blinked at the statement, realizing that Snart had already decided on it. Desperation rose in his chest. 

He turned his eyes up to the alpha. “Snart. Please don’t do this to her.”

Snarts hand squeezed his shoulder and he shook his head. “It’s done Barry. I’ve already given consent.” He caught Barry’s eyes and let his expression soften but said firmly. “It’ll work out, you’ll see.”

Barry opened his mouth to argue further but Snart’s grip on his shoulder tightened and his eyes went hard. “No. Drop it.” 

The look, the tone, exactly as they had been the previous night, had his omega ducking its head. It’s argumentative, challenging nature only went so far and it seemed it had found the line it wouldn’t cross. His human side though, it wasn’t high like the night before, wasn’t dampened and he grit his teeth ready to pick up where the omega wouldn’t. 

But then there was a flicker behind those icy eyes that made him back pedal. He had just a glimpse of the animal last night but it was enough to recall what it looked like lurking in the shadows, tinting the edges of the blue orbs, pacing as if it were anxious to be released, waiting for Barry to slip up so it _could_ be. 

He swallowed and nodded, making Snart’s posture ease.

Snart returned his nod tightly and rolled his head on his shoulders as if he needed to shake away the creature and Barry wondered if it controlled Snart as much as Barry’s omega controlled him. He shivered and Snart sighed. 

“On to you.” 

Barry closed his eyes, nostrils flaring as his back stiffened as a chill raced down his spine. It was easy to keep the alarm away while talking about the other omegas but his future was an entirely different matter. He thought he’d be ready to hear it but knew now that he wasn’t, all the preparation he’d put into it, the will to accept that he’d built up flew out the window. 

Snart’s hand fell to the back of his neck, and he felt his muscles ease, his mind clearing as the alpha soothed the panic, but only just. The barest hint of calm was pushed over him, keeping him alert but relaxed. 

“You’re almost too much to keep up with Scarlet. My own head is spinning with you jumping from one emotion to the next. It can’t be healthy for you.”

Barry nodded, silently agreeing. _He_ could barely keep up with himself at this point. He cleared his throat. “Your decision?”

“Is that you’re _difficult_.” He said with raised brows.

Barry stared up at him, waiting, unable to feel anything from Snart’s quip, tension building in his frame. 

Snart pinned him with his usual thoughtful gaze. “I assume that you would prefer to stay close to your friends?”

Barry pushed, “Yes,” from his constricted throat because being separated from them couldn’t happen.

The alpha nodded and brought his hand up to cup Barry’s cheek, his thumb smoothing Barry’s bunched brow. 

“Because you are what you are I feel compelled to let you decide from a few options, even if I know there’s only one choice that will work, because you’re kind of omega won’t be happy unless it chooses the alpha itself.”

Barry exhaled slowly, forcing himself to stay calm and nodded for Snart to continue. 

“There are only three unbonded alpha’s that live in the house or in close proximity to it that I feel comfortable, at least marginally so, pairing you with. The first is Mardon.” Barry paled and shook his head even as Snart held up his free hand to stop him and continued. “He treats omega’s well enough for him but there is question on whether or not that treatment would extend to _you_ , the adopted son of the man who killed his brother.”

Barry gave another shake of his head. He grit out firmly, “ _Not_ Mardon. Who are the others?”

“The second is the grounds keeper here. He stays in the small cabin on the west end of the property. He’s a good guy, quiet, and again, treats omegas well, but he tends to have a more traditional outlook of bonded omegas and I think you’d be bored to tears with him. You don’t strike me as the little housewife type, cooking, cleaning, and waiting by the door for him to come home.”

Sudden, hot irritation jabbed him at Snart’s words. He couldn’t help it, a sardonic laugh bubbled out and despite the trepidation he felt he snapped, “You are such an _asshole_ Snart. I don’t strike you as the little housewife type? In case you’re too thick to catch on what’s happening here, what _you_ are forcing me into by the way, that’ll be my life anyway. Cooking, cleaning, and spreading my legs like a bitch for someone with little to no choice. What does it matter _who_ I do it for?” 

As soon as it was out he paled. His omega hissed at him and his lack of control. His mouth dropped open at the realization of what he’d said and he squeezed his eyes shut. The pain from Snarts anger never came and he cracked his eyes open to find the man sitting there with an amused smile on his face. 

“You’re definitely too feisty for him,” he shrugged, “but it’s up to you. And as for your comment, you may not have to stay home, omega’s can work as long as they’re bonded and their alpha has agreed to a work permit. Your signal must have cut out before the bigger changes happened. Seems there’s a lot you don’t know.”

His voice still shook but he said with a touch less attitude, “So omegas have to have _permission_ to work. How generous of alphas, giving their pets such a slack leash.”

“Be thankful for the little things, Barry.”

Barry wrapped his arms around his middle and looked away. “So says the man on top. The _alpha_ on top that can do whatever he’d like.” 

“Yes, Scarlet. _The_ alpha on top.” 

Something in the way he’d said it brought his eyes back to the other man. Snart stared down at him with an intensity that made Barry’s breath stutter. This person that sat next to him radiated power and Barry could feel it to his core, smell it in the air, and hear it through the voice of his omega. It was almost primal and his nostrils flared as the omega inside him mewled in appreciation. 

A flush rose to his cheeks that was definitely not brought on by embarrassment and he blinked in confusion even as his body gave an involuntary shudder. 

The cool blue, always observant eyes narrowed at the reaction and the smirk he received was predatory, a confident leer, that burned right through him, knowing exactly what Barry felt. 

Another shudder fluttered over him and he swallowed. “More,” he cleared his throat, nerves making his voice break. “More like one of fifty.” 

It was a weak reply, even he heard the uncomfortable attempt at casualness and Snart’s face never lost the cool weighted look.

“I’m the _only_ alpha you should concern yourself with right now.”

There was a distinct fluttering in his stomach and he got the feeling that his omega wanted to thump him on the head, force Barry to do something, anything, to show the alpha that he, without question, had _all_ of Barry’s attention, and show him that Barry was special, give some display that made sure the alphas attention was solely on _him_. 

Barry shifted his face to the side again, away from Snart and shook his head, trying to clear it. 

“And-And the third?” he asked, trying to redirect the conversation back. Even the unwanted subject of who was going to practically _own_ him was better than seeing that look and hearing that particular tone. 

At his question the man’s body language shifted, a serious air moved over him, his leer disappearing but replaced with a new look in his eyes that Barry couldn’t identify. 

“You know exactly who your third choice is Barry.”

Barry’s chest tightened as his omega began to thrash within him, beating against his brain and he moaned softly without realizing he’d done it until it was out. He closed his eyes, his brows drawn together as he tried to stamp down the urgings of his omega to lean in to the strong, delectably scented alpha that had just offered himself to Barry, slide off the bench and to his knees in his own offering. He’d _never_ fought his omegan instincts like this. The thought of doing so had never occurred to him but it was acting so terrifyingly different and he was so confused, he just wanted it to shut up so he could think properly.

“Need some help?” Snart’s voice was like gravel and Barry was afraid to look up, knowing that Snart knew what he was feeling right now and knew that Barry was fighting for control, his tone all but screamed it. 

He shook his head sharply and stood, stepping a few paces away, trying to put some distance between them, away from Snart’s scent and the heat radiating off his body. 

“Why?” he croaked, still unable to open his eyes, still fighting the omega that clawed at him.

“Why bond with you?” At Barry’s stiff nod, he answered, “Just like you’re attracted to my kind of alpha, I’m particularly attracted to your kind of omega.”

“So… so this is all instinctual for you?”

There was a slight pause before, “We may be on opposite ends of the spectrum but you and I run in parallel. You have a hard time controlling the animal inside you and so do I.” Another pause. “So yes, it is mostly instincts that drive me these days but I won’t deny that you peaked my interest even before all this.”

Barry didn’t have the capacity to process what Snart had said. He heard the words but he was too focused on keeping his omega down to acknowledge the meaning. 

“I’m not gay Snart and… and you’ve listed off nothing but men.” The statement was nothing more than a distraction but he wasn’t sure if it was to distract himself from the obvious commands his high and mighty, bitchy and altogether prissy omega was beating him with or if it was to trick Snart into thinking _that_ was the reason for his current state, that it wasn’t because his omega demanded that he choose Snart. 

He heard the others smile in his voice as he spoke and Barry knew he wasn’t fooled. 

“Sexual orientation as it used to be is irrelevant now. There’s no gay or straight. You’re either alpha or omega and the strongest attractant has nothing to do with sexuality. It’s all based on scent, pheromones, and for some of us, touch.”

Barry’s mind was thrown back to the day before, outside the bar, when he’d felt the jolt as he’d grabbed the alpha’s wrist and like the day before his omega suddenly stilled, the thrashing inside him instantly coming to a hault. This time however it wasn’t because it was confused, this time it seemed to be whispering _I told you so_ and Barry took a deep, even breath at the swift turn of calm. It made him dizzy, his head spinning from the stillness but he opened his eyes to watch as his thumb brushed over his fingers as he remembered the feeling. 

“So what does it mean?” He held his hand up to clarify and thankfully Snart understood because he didn’t think he could even bring himself to say the word ‘touch’ at the moment if it meant connecting it with the alpha, too afraid it would stir his omega up again. 

“Just means that were compatible. Nothing else.” 

He hated the way Snart looked at him, calm and relaxed, sitting and looking back at him with an ease that Barry wished he could feel. 

“So… so you knew all along then? Has this all been some kind of mind fuck to get to this point?” The thought of Snart toying with him, stringing him along in deception, the _betrayal_ that it filled him with, had his eyes glaring with accusation. 

Snarts face morphed and his eyes narrowed, He leaned forward. “Let me make this real clear, I don’t need to trick you into getting what I want _sweetheart_. If I wanted to I could sink my teeth into you here and now and no matter how much you struggled or how badly you resisted, there would be _nothing_ you could do about it.”

Instant, hot anger had his eyes flashing to the alpha but as Snart stood and moved toward him Barry stilled at his third glimpse of the beast inside the man glinting beneath the surface, barely leashed. 

A large hand closed over his throat and an arm snaked behind him, pushing him against the bigger man with a jerk. His omega silently whimpered that Barry was an idiot, mentally crouching as low as it could as the gleaming, icy eyes of the barely restrained alpha stared down at him.

Snarts face pushed into his, lips just inches from his own and close enough that Barry could smell toothpaste and coffee on his breath as he spoke. “Make no mistake Barry, the animal inside me wants nothing more than to do exactly that.”

The hand at his neck tightened just a fraction and Barry swallowed against it as his head was tilted to the side. The glint sharpened as the alphas eyes dropped to his throat and Barry could do nothing but stand frozen and wide-eyed, waiting for the head to dip down. Instead those eyes flicked back to his. 

“It’s howling right now Scarlet,” he said low and quiet, “growling that the pretty little omega _needs_ to be bonded and bred. Claimed and fucked until it’s soft and sweet and stops with the defiant words and angry eyes.” 

A gasp escaped him and those chilly eyes snapped to his parted lips. He felt the shift then, his omega catching on as well as it relaxed from its protective stance, its interest catching. _Not angry_ ,it whispered to him, _interested and **possessive** , demanding, exactly how **his** alpha should be._

The whine that bubbled out wasn’t from his consciousness. It came straight from his primal depths and even as shame built from the needy, nearly wanton sound, he couldn’t help his own inspection of the others mouth, couldn’t push away the curiosity of what it would feel like over his. 

The image that came with that curiosity made him shudder and he licked his suddenly dry lips, not missing the way Snart’s eyes followed the movement. 

The rough pad of his thumb pressed into his bottom lip and for half a second Barry saw the animal take control, watched his pupils dilate and become something feral, and he _knew_ the image was going to become a reality. 

But then Snart blinked and his eyes, losing the savage look, snapped back up to his. “Be thankful, Barry, that I’m giving you a choice, that I’m allowing it, because _I don’t have to_. 

Snart’s warm breath hit his face and he had to close his eyes against the onslaught of praises his omega began purring about the alpha, how generous he was being, how thoughtful and kind. It made the (barely) more rational side of him cringe at the absurdity of it, snapping back that choices shouldn’t be something that were awarded- they weren’t a gift, they were a right, only to have the omega whisper darkly that they weren’t anymore. 

His breath hitched. “Stop. Just stop it.”

“Stop what Barry? Stop telling you the truth?”

His eyes snapped back open. He hadn’t realized he’d said it out loud, it was for his omega and he’d only wanted to be loud enough to mute the animal but now that he looked back up at the alpha he couldn’t help but wonder if he actually had meant to say it to Snart, if he really did want him to stop with the truth because the truth that seemed to be spouted back and forth between him and the omega was almost too much to deal with. 

“I just-I just need to think,” he said as he brought his hands up and pushed against the thick shoulders lightly, hoping the alpha would take the hint and let him go. 

He didn’t. He raised his brows but kept his arm around his waist and his hand over Barry’s throat. The thumb that had been pushing at his bottom lip now grazed his jaw.

“What’s there to think about? We both know there’s only one logical choice here.”

“You said I have a choice, not that I had to be logical.” He grimaced at the internal rage of his omega, the insults being thrown at him for his words, the stupidity, his omega supplied, of not listening to reason. 

Snart laughed but it lacked humor. It was low and dark and Barry shivered that the chill that seeped from it. 

“Then make your choice Barry,” he whispered, “but make sure you do it without any delusions of how your life will end up.” 

His arm tightened almost painfully as he pushed himself closer to Barry, pressing every inch of his body along his frame. 

“Mardon is a horny son of a bitch. You might not want him now but that would change after the bond, one of nature’s loopholes. After, your biological makeup would adjust and you’d crawl to him like a bitch in heat, desperate for him. He doesn’t want kids and he’d be gone most of the time. He wouldn’t give a shit what you did while he was gone just so long as you did what you were told and were ready to fuck when he decided to wander home. He might let you have a work permit but it’s doubtful. He’d slap you around some but more than likely he’d sit back and watch as he beat you down with his anger. As I said, you’re a strong omega, defiant, so I see you spending a lot of time getting acquainted with the feeling and eventually the pain of his anger would affect your mind and everyone would see how you shook like a kicked puppy whenever he entered a room.” 

Barry grimaced at the images he was supplied with. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his face away as if that would help rid him of the description Snart laid out for him. The alpha’s hand moved to settle at the small of his back, his fingers shifting under the jacket and shirt to graze the skin along the waist of his low hanging pants leaving a tingle in their path. The ease of his touch belied the sharp edge in his voice, the freezing look in his eyes, and though he knew he should be afraid, _terrified_ of what Snart was saying, all he could feel was security in Snart’s hold, like nothing could touch him as long as he stayed right where he was. 

“Randy, the groundskeeper, would treat you like you were made of glass _at first_. You’d clean his house, learn to cook all his favorite meals and would no doubt be poppin’ a kid out within the year. He’d be the type to tell you it’s all for your own good while spanking your ass like a child for one of your snappy remarks and afterwards sigh with an oh-so- _disappointed_ look and tell you he hoped you’d learned your lesson.” 

Barry blinked at the snide tone that Snart threw out at him, sneering at his own wording. “He’d expect you to be quiet, meek, and smile prettily at all times. Sure, there’s stability in the routine and under certain circumstances you would thrive under stability but you’re not glass and it would eventually wear you down, Scarlet. You have too much fire in you to be what he expects. Your kind fights back Barry, and neither Mardon or Randy would have what it takes to handle it when it came. You’d take a swipe at them and their alphas wouldn’t understand. They’d hurt you. Badly. It would be more than your omegan body could handle because they weren’t built for you, they don’t have the same understanding or patience that I have.”

Barry swallowed thickly and shifted, finding that at some point he’d pressed his arms between their bodies and clenched his fingers into Snart’s shirt, using the other man as an anchor. 

“Are you saying you wouldn’t? You’d just let me do what I want?” He’d meant to say it as a snap, sarcastic and heated, but it was barely more than a weak whisper, his voice trembling. 

Snart snorted. “Of course not. I guarantee you and I would have some spectacular fights. All I’m saying is that my alpha will always know what you can handle, even when it’s in a rage. I’d provide you with a safe environment to be exactly who you are. With them,” he shrugged, “after a while you’d crumble and probably end up slicing your wrists open.”

He paled knowing how accurate Snart’s words were. He didn’t need his omega to tell him that. He’d break if he was forced to be something he wasn’t, he knew that instinctually. 

“And there’s no other choices?”

Snart frowned. “There are other choices but trust me it may not seem like it but those two are the best options. Unless you want me to look outside my pack. You’d be moved away from your friends, off the property. I’m sure you’d get to see them but not as often and regardless, the outcome would be the same if you chose a regular alpha. You need a High Alpha. The only ones known are part of the counsel and the nearest are already bonded.”

The hand at his neck moved to wrap around his shoulders as he spoke and Barry let his head fall back to rest on the arm behind him. He closed his eyes against the weight of the day and breathed deeply, trying to put his thoughts in order. 

Why was he fighting this? Why was he drawing it out? He’d known from the moment that Snart had said he was different that this choice would be presented to him and yes, logically it _was_ the best choice. 

And if he were honest with himself, he wasn’t actually disagreeable to the idea. He knew he was only putting it off because he needed to give the human side of himself the feeling of being in control even if he knew he wasn’t. He already knew what he was going to do. It felt _right_ , his entire body thrummed with the feeling of it. Snart was pressed to him, wrapped around him and for once he didn’t question the feeling it provided, just let himself flow with it, test it, let his mind explore the concept of what it would be like to be with Snart and instead of the apprehension he’d felt at the mention of the other two, he felt confident that Snart would be good for him.

He was suddenly exhausted, lethargy came sharply to him, the tension that had melted away overnight was back and his frame became heavy. He could feel the alphas gaze on him, his eyes leaving burning trails where they moved over his face. He was confused and irritable and offended all at the same time but instead of letting it consume him, instead of analyzing it or controlling it, he just melted into it, into _Snart_. He sighed and let go of the tension beating at him, too tired to hold it up. He leaned back further and let the other man hold some of the weight he’d been holding for so long. 

“This is insane. All of you… all of you would treat me like I’m less of a person, like an animal that can’t take care of himself. I have a brain and I know how to use it. I just… I don’t,” he paused and swallowed shaking his head against the arm behind him, the need to express his confusion overwhelming, “I don’t know why I think the things I’m suddenly thinking and feel the way I’m suddenly feeling. And-and... and I don’t know why _this_ ,” he indicated their position with a light flick of his head, trying to project the way Snart’s touch felt steady and reassuring, “feels the way it does.” 

The alpha’s voice was once again soft and Barry opened his eyes to catch the small smile being aimed at him. 

“We’re all animals now Scarlet. I’m as much of one as you.” His lips tilted up further. “And this,” he inclined his head, mimicking Barry’s earlier movement, “what you feel between _us_? It’s like I’ve been saying all morning, we _fit_. Not to mention, I’ve spent the morning touching you, exposing you to my scent and pheromones and your omega recognizes not just an alpha but a _strong_ alpha, one that matches your own strength and it’s pleased. Simple as that.” 

Barry scowled as the omega in him--the omega that had _betrayed_ him, he decided--hummed in agreement. The grin Snart aimed at him was smug making his scowl sharpen. 

Snart snorted at the look and twisted his wrist near Barry shoulder to check his watch. “Chop-chop Barry, I need a decision. The doctor is going to be here soon.” 

“Doctor?” Barry could feel the wariness of his omega creeping up. There was a doctor coming? No. Just no. Doctors meant touching. They were invasive and the omega did _not_ want to be touched by a stranger. Unknown alphas and omegas poking and prodding his body, tainting his skin with their filthy hands, they would pollute his body—the body meant only for his alpha.

Snart cocked his head and Barry could see the curiosity behind them as he nodded. “Yeah, had an appointment set up last night,” he said absently. “Are you afraid of doctors?”

The omega in him scoffed at the quick question and Barry’s nose tilted up unconsciously. “Of course not,” he snapped. 

Snart’s brows rose. “Then what’s with the sudden distaste?”

He glared and his cheeks burned. “I don’t need to see a doctor. That’s all.”

“You’re joking right?” The alpha looked at him incredulously and shook his head. “Scarlet, have you looked at yourself lately? You’re skin and bones. All three of you are but _you_ are the worst. To top that off you look like you got hit by a truck after your run in yesterday.”

“Caitlin is a doctor. _She_ can take care of it.”

“No, _Caitlin_ needs to see a doctor too, an unbiased doctor that won’t give in to a pushy, demanding omega.” He looked at Barry pointedly but paused, a thoughtful expression coming over his features. “You don’t think that Caitlin and Cisco need to see a doctor?”

Barry blinked. “I—well, yeah… of course they should.”

“So they need to see a doctor but you don’t?”

Barry’s mouth snapped closed at Snart’s logic. He turned his face away and scowled. There was no excuse for it. It was only reasonable for him to see a doctor and he couldn’t find an argument other than—

“I don’t want them _touching_ me,” he growled.

“Ah,” Barry turned back at the quiet of Snart’s voice, “I see.”

The alpha had a soft smile on his face and the human side of Barry wanted to wipe it off with a swipe of his nails but Snart’s hold tightened around him, pushing his trapped arms even further into his chest.

He’d actually forgotten that they were still pressed together. Barry blushed deep and red, he could feel it burning down his neck. 

“Don’t worry Scarlet. This doc understands your kind and he won’t touch you more than necessary.”

Snart’s gentle words didn’t comfort him much but the fingers brushing through his hair at the nape of his neck, scratching lightly, had his omega sighing and melting into the touch. 

He closed his eyes and gave his own sigh, leaning his head back against Snart’s fingers. 

It was an odd combination—even though he was still wary, untrusting of this unknown doctor—he felt… _ok_. Like he didn’t really have to worry about anything. Snart’s arms were a comfort around him, letting him relax against them. He could get used to the feeling of Snart holding him, easing his worries, and the thought didn’t scare him as much as he knew it should.

“Barry.”

Just the way his name was said, he knew what Snart wanted, there was no need to open his eyes or question the other man.

“You already know who I’m going to pick,” he said with low reluctance. 

He felt Snart nod. “I do. But I still need to hear it. Just so we’re clear.”

Barry opened his eyes and looked up at the alpha. “Why? What does it matter?”

“To the alpha, it doesn’t. It couldn’t care less whether you consent or not.” He looked down at Barry with honest, clear blue eyes that had him pausing. “But to _me_ Scarlet, the human part, it matters.”

Barry nodded slowly. There was a relief that came with Snart’s words, the assurance that he would still allow Barry his own mind, affirming what he knew, that Snart would be the best choice. 

“You. I’m choosing you.”

Snart’s eyes dilated to black for a split second making Barry gasp. But as quickly as it came, Snart blinked and his cool blue eyes were back. The hands on him tightened a fraction and he nodded. 

“Ok.” He nodded again. “That’s good Scarlet.” The fingers lingered, still sifting through the hair near his neck and whatever Barry expected after his acquiescent it certainly wasn’t the calm quiet that Snart currently presented him with. 

The pocket of Snart’s jacket that Barry wore vibrated making him jump, at least as much as the alpha’s hold allowed for. Snart sighed and unwrapped the arm over his shoulders before reaching into the pocket and pulling out his phone. 

His eyes skimmed the screen and with a frown he began tapping out a reply to what was obviously a text. With a small smile to Barry he slipped the phone back into the jacket. 

“Time to head back. Doc’s here. He already saw Cisco and just took Caitlin. You’re up next so let’s get it over with so you guys can eat and I can get to work.”


End file.
